I'm Yours
by Penguins.Are.Lovely
Summary: After Jake ditched them both, Quil and Bella strike up a friendship, which turns into something more.
1. Chapter 1

Edward left me broken and I thought I was unfixable. For months I sat in my room doing nothing but sulking, thinking about him. He was my air, my life, my everything. Then I found Jake.

Jake and I started to hang out in his garage, fixing up the motorcycles I bought from the neighbor. Jake started to heal the gaping hole in my heart. He was my best-friend. I even met a few of his friends, Quil and Embry. We became the four best friends in La Push. That was until Embry joined Sam Uley's cult. The one that him, Quil and Jake swore never to get involved in. He just abandoned us. And now Jake was doing the same.

Billy wouldn't let me speak to him. I wasn't allowed to come to La Push. Charlie was even starting to get upset at Billy because he wouldn't let me visit him, saying that Jake had mono.

I had talked to Quil. We were the only people we had left. He said that Jake had missed some school and then he came back to school hanging with Jared, Paul, and Embry, all part of Sam's cult.

Now I was driving to La Push to try and figure out what Jake's problem was. It was pouring down rain as I pulled up to the Black house. I saw Billy peek through the window with a frown on his face. I heard another car pull into the driveway. I recognized it as Quil's. He had a smile on his face when he saw me.

"Bella. What are you doing here?"

"I just came to figure out what Jake's problem is and why he ditched us. Why are you here?"

"Same. He won't even look at me, nonetheless give me a reason as to why he ditched us. He just says that it would be too dangerous for us to be around him."

"Oh. He won't even talk to me. Billy said that he had mono and wouldn't let me come visit or even talk to him on the phone." I said with a frown.

"Billy told me that too. But then he comes to school hanging out with Sam and his posse." Jake came running out from the woods then. He looked at Quil and I, then went into the house.

Quil banged on the door. Billy answered. "Bella, Quil. Why are you here?" he didn't seem happy that we were here.

"We came to talk to Jake. He use to be our friend." Quil said.

"Well, he can't talk right now. So you'll just have to leave." This just made me blow. I was infuriated with the lies and excuses.

"Billy, let us speak to him." I demanded.

"Bella, Quil, I think it best if you leave."

"No. We're not leaving until we talk to Jake."

"Bella, let's just go. Obviously we aren't welcome here." Quil pulled on my arm, dragging me out of the house. Once outside, I sobbed into Quil's shoulder. He wrapped his arms around me in a comforting gesture.

"Shhh, Bella. It's ok. Jake is just being a jerk, I guess. We don't need him. We still have each other, right?" He looked down into my eyes. I nodded into his chest. "Bella, I won't ever leave you. And I know Jake promised that, but I intend to keep that promise."

I was glad that I could still have Quil. He was my best friend now. Jake was my best friend, but he decided that he didn't want me anymore. Why does everybody have to leave me? First, my love. Then my best friend. Somehow, there was just a little voice in my head saying that Quil was always going to be there. I don't know how I could think that, but I just felt like I was right this time.

"Hey, how about we go see a movie together or something tomorrow? I think we both need the stress reliever."

"Yeah. That would be nice." The tears were starting to disappear and we were both soaked from the rain.

"Ok. And we can go to dinner after or something. Or just a walk on the beach, depending on the weather, of course. I don't care. I'll pick you up at four."

"Ok. Yeah. That would be nice. I'll see you at four, then." I gave Quil another hug before walking off to my truck and Quil went to his car.

On the car ride home I thought about the days events. First, Jake just walks past us, not even bothering to talk to us. Then Billy basically orders us away. And then there was Quil. I had no doubt in my mind that he would keep his promise. I knew that wasn't normal of me. Even when Jake vowed his promise of presence in my life, I had some doubt because I figured that if Edward didn't want me, neither would Jake. I thought that I would feel the same way with Quil, but I didn't.

I got home and saw that Charlie's cruiser was in the driveway. "Shoot." I muttered to myself. I hadn't told Charlie where I was going.

"Hey, Bella." Charlie called from the living room. "Where have you been?"

"Um. I went over to Jacob's house. I wanted to see why he was avoiding me."

"Bella, why the hell would you do that? I told you not to go over there. I didn't want you to be disappointed again. What happened?"

"Well, Quil showed up shortly after I did. He was there for the same reason I was. Jake walked by us without saying anything to us. And Billy told us to leave. Quil and I are going to the movies tomorrow. Just to get away from everything."

"Bells, I'm sorry. I know that he helped you a lot. But I just can't stand to see you in such a zombie state again. I really hope things work out between you guys, but don't get your hopes up."

"I won't, dad. I'm going to bed now. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

I woke up the next to the sound of my loud and obnoxious alarm. It was eight o' clock and I had to get ready to run a few errands. I got a shower and got dressed. After that I grabbed a bowl of cereal and brushed my teeth before heading out the door, noticing that Charlie's cruiser wasn't in the driveway.

I ran to work to get my paycheck and then to the bank to get it cashed. I had to go to the grocery store to pick up food, seeing as our fridge looked pretty empty. I also needed to drop a few things off at Angela's and then I went home. It was 11 o' clock by the time I got home.

I put the groceries away and made myself some lunch. I still had 5 hours until Quil was picking me up. After washing my dishes and writing a note to Charlie that he would have to heat up leftovers for dinner, I decided that I would do laundry and some homework to pass the time.

I finished my homework around 2 o'clock. I still had two hours to kill. There was nothing on T.V. and nothing else to do. I got dressed, put some make-up on and continued to read Wuthering Heights again.

I got a text from Quil saying that he was on the way and that he would be here in 15 minutes. I set the book aside, put my jacket by the door and looked myself over in the mirror before I heard a knock at the door. I answered it to see Quil standing there, with a smile on his face.

"Hey. You ready to go?" He asked.

"Yeah." I smiled. I grabbed my jacket, sliding it on as I walked to the car. Quil held the door open for me and I slid in. Quil placed himself in the drivers' seat and backed out of the driveway.

"So how has your day been?" He asked glancing over at me.

"Good. I just did a few chores, ran to the store and did some homework. Nothing exciting. How about yours?"

"It was slow. I've been waiting for this moment all day. It's nice to get out of La Push and get to see you again."

"Yeah it is." The rest of the car ride was filled with a comfortable silence.

We arrived at the theatre soon afterwards. Quil pulled in and stopped the car.

"Why thank you young gentleman." I said as Quil helped me out of his car.

"Why, you're welcome Ms." I giggled at his humor. He started to laugh too.

We bought our tickets and bought some snacks. We found our seats and began chatting until the movie started. The comedy of the movie was a nice release for me. I could tell it was for Quil too. The movie ended and we decided to head for dinner.

"So did you like the movie?" He asked me as we just sat down to eat.

"Yes I did. Did you?"

"Yes. Bella, could I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Well, I know that you haven't had the best luck with guys, and I would think that your trust level has probably gone down a bit for them. You know after Edward left you and everything that has happened with Jake lately. But, I have really come to know you the past few months. And I know that it was probably just lust at first, but I really have come to like you. And I am glad to have the friendship that we have gained over the past few months. I don't know what you will say to this, but whatever you say I hope that we can still at least have our friendship. What I am trying to say is, will you be my girlfriend?" His eyes met mine and they looked worried.

No, I didn't have very good luck with guys. And yes, my trust had gone down slightly. But I really liked and trusted Quil. "Yes, I will be your girlfriend." I said with a smile. He smiled, too.

We chatted and just had a good time for the rest of dinner. We were soon finished. It was 7:30 when we left the restaurant and the sun was starting to set. Quil and I got in his car and he drove off back towards La Push. He pulled into the beach and we got out.

We walked across the shore line, holding hands in the comfortable silence. We walked for some time before Quil led me to a rock and sat down. I sat in front of him, with his arms around me, watching the sun set over the ocean.

"Beautiful, isn't it." He murmured with his lips against my hair.

"Very." I said. The sun had just set and it was now dark.

"I should probably get you home now." We got up. Quil led me to his car. We drove off and got home in about 20 minutes. Quil walked me up to the door, with our hands clasped together.

"I had a really good time tonight, Quil."

"Yeah. I did too. Have a good night. I will see you later."

"Yeah. How about we go somewhere again next weekend?"

"Ok. That would be nice. You get to choose this time."

I thought for a second. "Well, the carnival is next weekend. We could go there."

"Sounds good. I'll see you then. Goodbye, Bella." He whispered, giving me a kiss on the cheek.

"Goodbye, Quil." I went inside and watched out the front window until his car was out of sight.

"Is that you, Bells?" Charlie called from the living room.

"Yeah, Dad."

"You have a good time with Quil?"

"Yeah. I had a really good time with him." I smiled and made my way upstairs.

I showered and replayed today in my head. Everything about tonight had been perfect.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day I woke up happy. For the first time in weeks I had good dreams. Quil was in them, of course. He really was perfect in every way. Yes, I knew that we had only started dating yesterday, but I felt like I had known him longer than just a few short months. I got out bed refreshed. I actually had a decent amount of sleep. I wasn't having bad dreams or waking up every two hours. I got ready for school and grabbed a pop-tart, eating it on the way to school. I had the stereo turned up louder than normal and I couldn't help but smile and think about Quil. I pulled up to school and got out of my truck. People must have noticed my sudden change in attitude because Angela came up to me with smile on her face as well. "Hey, Bella. What's up with the happy face on you all of a sudden?" "Um. Well, you know my friend Jake right?" she nodded. "Well he ditched me and another one of his friends, Quil, a few weeks ago. So I went over to see what Jake's problem was and QuiI showed up for he same thing. Jake ignored us and his dad basically told us to go away. So Quil and I had been friends before when Jake was our friend. We decided to see a movie yesterday and we went out to dinner and watched the sun set on the beach. He asked me to be his girlfriend over dinner and I said yes." I had a huge smile on my face by the time I finished. So did Angela. I glanced over and saw that Mike had a small frown on his face. He must've overheard us. I swear he just couldn't get I through his small brain that I didn't want him! "Well Bella I am glad that you are happy now. But I think that we need to get to class. I'll talk to you at lunch." "Yeah. I'll see you then." I said and walked off to English. The day seemed to pass quickly and I was soon at lunch. I grabbed some food and headed to my table, where Angela was already waiting with Ben. Angela made me dish out every detail of the night.

"So, did you guys kiss?"

"No. He kissed me on the cheek though. I think Charlie might have been watching from the living room."

"Ah. I see I see. When will you see him next?"

"Well, we're going to the carnival next weekend. I don't know if I will see him before then, though."

"Hm. Sounds great." The bell rang then and we headed off to class. I had Trig next and Mike was in my class. He sat next to me.

I sat down in my seat. Mike was already there, watching me with a smile on his face.

"So, Bella's back? What's got you so happy?"

"Oh nothing." I sighed.

"Really? It doesn't look like nothing. Hey, do you wanna go out this weekend or something since you aren't like a zombie anymore?"

Ugh! I thought. "Sorry, Mike. But I plans this weekend with my _boyfriend._" I emphasized the word boyfriend and his face fell.

"Oh. That's ok. I mean, we can still go out as friends or something, right? Some other time."

"Mike, I thought that you were still with Jessica." I said, facing him.

"Yeah, we kind of broke up the other day."

"Oh, well I'm sorry, but I am not interested. I am with Quil, not you."

"So, you're his girlfriend. Since when?"

"Yesterday." His face fell. Finally, the teacher decided to start class. I didn't talk to Mike for the rest of the day. I had chemistry with Jessica for the last period of the day.

Jessica was sitting at our table as usual when I walked in.

"What's got you so happy?" She sneered.

"Oh, just that I am dating the most wonderful guy ever." I said happily.

She gave me a scowl. "Really? I didn't think that anyone would want you, seeing as every other guy leaves you. First Edward, and then…what was his name? Oh yeah, Jacob. I wouldn't be surprised if this guy left either." I almost blew. But I knew that I would accomplish nothing if I did that. Class started then.

When class was over, I rushed out to my truck. I just wanted to get out of there and away from people. I got home and did my homework. I decided to start dinner and call Quil.

"Hello." His voice came from the speaker.

"Hey." I said softly.

"Hey, Bells. What's up?"

"Not much. I'm making dinner for Charlie and I. What about you?"

"Nothing. I was just watching T.V. but there's nothing on and I would much rather talk to you."

"Really? So what do you want to talk about?"

"How was school?" It was an innocent question, but it was one that made me think bad thoughts about people falling in a well.

"It was…I don't know. Mike asked me out since him and Jess broke up and I explained that I have a boyfriend. But then he asked if we could still go out as friends sometime. He looked kind of sad when he found out that we were dating. And then Jess just pissed me off. She thought that since Edward and Jake left that you would too. Angela was happy though."

"I'm sorry you didn't have a very good day." He said sadly.

"Hey, it's not your fault. So how was your day at school?"

"Pretty much the same as always. Sam looked at me like I was next or something to join his pack. But that's everyday. But don't worry. I won't leave you."

"I know. And I trust you." Charlie got home then. "Charlie's home. I should go. Goodbye."

"Bye." I hung up then. I heard Charlie put his belt and jacket on the hanger and walk in the kitchen.

"How was school today?" He asked as he sat down at the table with the newspaper in his hand.

"Don't want to talk about it. You know, I don't know why you read that. All you do is look at the sports section or complain about how the police in the other counties aren't doing their jobs right."

"I read it because I want to." I served dinner, spaghetti with garlic bread and a salad. Dinner was filled with silence, something that I was used to at dinner. Charlie helped me with the dishes and I went upstairs to take my shower. I changed into some sweats and a old t-shirt. I curled up on my bed and began reading another Jane Austin novel.

I must've fallen asleep reading last night. I woke up to the alarm going off. I got out of bed and began my morning routine, then headed out the door to go to school. The day went about the same. People were still looking at me. Jessica was still being a snob, along with Lauren Mallory. Mike sort of backed off a little. At least he wasn't asking me out again like yesterday.

I sat with Ben and Angela in lunch again. Conversations were normal. Angela would ask the occasional question about Quil and I would answer honestly. When I looked over to Mike's table behind us, I could still see his face slightly drop at the mention of Quil's name. Oh well. He would just have to get over it.

The rest if the day passed without event. I went to work after school. _Great. More time with Newton. _I thought. It passed quickly, thankfully.

On the way home, Charlie called me.

"Hey, Bells. I won't be home until late. I have a missing persons case that I have to work on. So it will be late before I am home."

"Ok, Dad. I will put dinner in the fridge for you,"

"Ok. Bye."

"Bye." I hung up as I pulled into the driveway. I made some of Grandma Swans potato soup for myself and put the rest in the fridge.

I was still working on my English paper when Charlie got home.

"It's 10 o'clock. Shouldn't you be getting to bed now?" He asked.

"Yeah. Just let me finish this paragraph and I'll go."

"Ok. I'm going to go to bed now then. Night"

"Night." After finishing my paper, I went to bed.

The rest of the week went by slowly, probably because I was excited for the weekend to come so that I could see Quil again. It was Friday now. Things were…odd. Only Ben and Angela weren't being strange. Mike wasn't upset anymore, at least not that I could tell. Jess was acting nice to me. Lauren was still Lauren.

"So, are you going to see Quil this weekend?" Jess asked me in chem.

"Yeah. I'll see him tonight. Why have you been so nice to me today?"

"What? I can't be nice to my friend?"

"Um. You haven't been for the past few months."

"Well, your not depressed anymore. You know, I had my own problems too. I didn't need you making everything worse."

"Oh. Ok. Thanks. What about Lauren?"

"She started some crap about me being pregnant with Mike's kid. So I told her that I was done with her crap."

"Ok. Um. So, yeah, I am going to see Quil tonight. We're going to the thing downtown tonight."

"Oh, that's cool. I hope you guys have fun."

"Yeah. It should be. Thanks." The final bell rang and I rushed to my truck. I had a few texts messages from Quil saying that he missed me. I missed him too. We didn't really get to talk much this week. We were both busy with work and school, so we could catch up this weekend.

I did my homework and changed into some other clothes. I left my house and started for the church that we were going to meet at. Quil was already there when I arrived.

"Hey."

"Hey." I said back. We walked hand in hand, talking about each others weeks and random stuff.

"So how was your week?" I asked him.

"Fine. Slow, I guess. Jared, Jake and Embry still keep looking at me. It's starting to scare me, kind of."

"Quil, don't worry about them. Jake and Embry might just want their friend back and Jared…I don't know about him."

"I'm not going to worry about it for not, not until I have too, at least."


	3. Chapter 3

"Do you want to share a funnel cake or something?" Quil asked me as we were walking down the street.

"Sure." I said. Quil got our funnel cake and we sat down at a picnic table to eat it. "So, we haven't really gotten to talk to each other this week."

"Yeah, I know. It sucks. So, what's been up lately?"

"Um. Just school and work and stuff. Not much going on in my boring life. How about you?"

"Same. Not much going on. How's the Chief?"

"I don't really know." I sighed. "He's been working on a missing persons case for a while now. So he isn't home a lot. I don't really see him that much."

"Oh. I'm sorry. You know you could always come over to my house if you ever got lonely." He smiled.

I smiled back. "I might have to take you up on that deal sometime."

We finished, throwing our trash away. We continued walking, playing a few games for the rest of the night. We left around ten. Quil followed me home since he drives right pass it to get back to his house. I noticed that the cruiser wasn't in the driveway, so I invited Quil in for a while. He wouldn't be able to stay for long, he would have to leave before Charlie got home.

Charlie left a note on the counter saying that he wouldn't be home until late again.

Quil and I sat on the couch, me cuddling close to his chest. We put a movie on and just sat and watched it. I would feel Quil playing with my hair once in a while and I felt it comforting.

I looked at the clock, seeing that it was 11:30. "I don't know how much longer Charlie will be. You should probably leave now." I said while getting up.

"Yeah, I should probably get home. Mom might be wondering where I am."

I went to the door to say goodbye. Quil left, giving me a kiss on the cheek like he had before. I watched out the window until his car was out of view. Then, I went upstairs, going to bed.

I don't know what time I woke up, but it was still dark outside. My dream was very vivid, it almost felt real.

Jake was there. And so was Quil. Jake had said something to Quil, which made him angry, causing him to shake violently. I saw Jake's eyes grow wide in horror. He kept telling me to get back, to run as fast as I could. But I didn't. I only stood there, worrying about what was happening to Quil and why he was shaking so violently.

Sam and another man appeared. They were pulling Quil away from me. I tried to go with them, but Jake had hold of me. Sam and the other man pulled Quil into the woods and there was a horrifying scream that I assumed came from Quil.

That's when I woke up. I didn't know what to think of the dream. None of it made sense. What would make Quil so mad that he would start to shake like that? And why was Jake trying to get me away from him? Nothing in that dream made sense. I fell back asleep shortly after that.

I woke up around 9. I was still confused from the dream last night. I got in the shower and threw on jeans and a t-shirt. I finished up some chores and made myself a turkey sandwich and a yogurt cup for lunch. After eating, I headed off for work.

When I got there, I put on my vest and name tag and went to my station. Mike watched me do my work like he always did. I internally groaned. I was sick of him not leaving me alone.

"So, how are you and the boyfriend doing? Have you guys gotten into any fights yet?" He asked with a hopeful look in his eye.

"Mike, for the hundredth time, I do not want to go out with you. Quil and I are perfectly happy together."

"But you just met him! I've known you for much longer. Come on, Bella. Just give me a chance."

"Actually, Mike, I've known him for a few months now. Since January. And it's now May."

"I've still known you longer than he has." Mike grumbled.

"Yeah, well he's not always in my face asking me out every five minutes like you are. So just leave me alone! Urggggg!" I blew and stormed off to help a few customers. I looked back at Mike who had a dumbstruck expression on his face. _He better have gotten the idea this time. _

I prayed that work would pass quickly, but much to my dismay, it didn't. Mike and I didn't talk for the rest of the day. His mother, the owner of the store, kept giving us both odd looks all day. She probably thought that it was odd that we weren't talking to each other, which was fine by me.

I heard some campers talking about something and I found myself listening to their conversation.

"Dude, this thing was huge! Taller than a bear, even on all fours." One said.

"But wolves just don't get that big. It must be like, some mutant dog thing. I don't know. But it can't be a wolf." The other argued.

"Whatever. I know what I saw." They kept at it while they shopped. I tuned out after a while, keeping my focus on counting the money in the register. Mike's mom came over the intercom telling shoppers that the store would be closing soon. I finished up what I was doing and headed for the back room, taking off my vest and grabbing my keys.

"Hey, Bella, can I talk to you for a second?" Mike's mom called as I was about to head out the door.

"Yes, Mrs. Newton?"

"I don't mean to be intruding, but I noticed that you and Mike seemed to be avoiding each other today and giving each other snide looks. Is there something that I should know about? Is something wrong?"

"No. there's nothing wrong." I lied, smiling. I knew that I was a terrible liar, but hopefully she would believe me. Nothing else would be wrong as long as Mike left me alone about the boyfriend thing.

"Ok. But if there is, be sure to tell me."

"Of course." I smiled politely and headed for my truck. It was pouring down rain when I left. _Well that just made my bad day worse. _I thought.

Charlie was home when I got there. I saw him lounging on the couch, watching whatever game was on tonight. I gave a quick greeting and headed for the kitchen to make dinner. I was just pulling the steaks out of the oven when Charlie walked in.

"Smells good, Bells." He started setting the table while I finished up dinner.

"You always say that, Dad." I said while putting the food on the table.

"Because it's true. How was work?"

I groaned. "I blew up on Mike about him asking me out every five minutes and I think that he finally got it. We didn't talk for the rest of the day. How was work for you?"

"Same as it has been for the past few weeks. Slow. The only thing that we are really working on right now is that missing persons case. How are things with Quil?"

"Fine. We had fun yesterday."

"So, when am I going to meet him?"

I was completely taken off guard by the question. "Um. When do you want to?"

"Why don't you invite him over for dinner tomorrow."

"Ok. I'll call him and ask if he's available." The rest of dinner was filled with silence. I got up and washed my dishes before going upstairs to call Quil.

"Hey, Bella."

"Hey. What's up?"

"Just finishing some homework. But I'm done now.. What's up?"

"I called to ask a question."

"And your question would be?"

"Charlie asked when he was going to meet you. He wants me to invite you over for dinner tomorrow night if you're available."

"Yeah. I'll be there, of course. What time do you want me over?"

"Is 5:30 good?"

"Sounds great. You still have to meet my parents too, ya know?"

"Tell me the time and place and I'll be there." I smiled. I was kind of nervous to meet his parents. What if they didn't like me?

He chuckled. "How about next Saturday. My place. 6 o'clock."

"Sounds great." We started talking about random things. When he asked me how work went, the smile on my face faded. "It was just fan friggin' tastic." I groaned.

"It doesn't sound like it was just fan friggin' tastic." He accused.

I sighed. "Mike. He asked if we had gotten into any fights yet. When I told him that we were perfectly happy, he said that I should give him a chance. I blew at that point. I was tired of his persistence with trying to get me to go out with him. So I blew and he looked pretty dumbstruck when I did it. We didn't talk for the rest of the day. His mom noticed and asked me if something was wrong, but I lied and told her that everything was fine, promising that I would tell her otherwise."

"That Newton kid must have some serious problems."

"Yeah, he does. But enough about me. How has work been for you? don't you work with one of the guys in Sam's group?"

"Paul? Yeah. We were never really close before anyways. But still, he's watching me or something. I tried to ask him what his problem was and everyone else's, but he just ignored me, telling me not to worry about it right now. Then I got really confused. I just don't understand why Sam would want me in be one of his disciples."

"Yeah, but that's what Jake and Embry thought too, remember?"

"True. I just wont worry about it for now. When the time comes, I will." I yawned and I heard a small chuckle come from the other line. "You sound tired."

"Nope. Not at all."

"Bella, you're a horrible liar. I thought we established this a long time ago when you almost spilled the beans about Embry's party." Those were happier times. Embry's birthday was in February. Jake, Quil and I had decide to throw him a surprise party with just the four of us. I looked at the picture that was taken of us at the party on my bed side table. We were all smiling, looking happy as ever. He left a month and a half after that.

"Oh, shut it. It didn't help the fact that he wouldn't stop practically flirting with me to tell him what was going on. But I kept the secret."

"Yes, you did. But you're still a horrible liar." I could hear the smile in his voice. I yawned again. "Bella, you're obviously tired, so I'm going to let you go now. I'll see you tomorrow night."

"Ok. Goodnight, Quil."

"Goodnight, Bella." I hung up then. I went into the bathroom, showering and changing into some basketball shorts and a tank top. After brushing my teeth and washing my face, I curled up under the light covers, letting sleep take over me.

My dream was different tonight. It was like I was having a flashback. Jake and I were walking on the beach. He was telling me the Quileute legends. And then it…fast forwarded. I was walking in the words by myself. I kept hearing noises, like someone was following me, but I couldn't see anyone or anything. Finally, I saw a flash of red and Victoria was in front of me. She grabbed me, getting ready kill, but she stopped, looking behind me in terror. She dropped me and ran. I saw…I don't even know what they were. Bears? Wolves? They ran past me so fast they were a blur. I sat there on the forest floor, so confused as to what I had just witnessed and also afraid that Victoria had come back and almost gotten away with killing me. I had no doubt that she would come back to finish the job.

I saw a chocolate furred…thing look at me and I felt like everything was going to be ok. I didn't know why, but I just felt safe, like the look in its eyes were telling me that I was safe now.

I woke up gasping for air. Victoria was probably out there, looking for me right now. I didn't doubt that after what Edward had done to James. But now I had no protection from her. I was just a helpless human with no chance at getting away from her. I also knew that she would come for the people that I cared about. Charlie, Quil, my mother maybe.

I laid in bed, sleep not even being an option at that moment. I was too worried about the people that I cared about and for my own life and safety, as well. Quil wouldn't be able to protect me. He didn't even know that vampires existed. The only one's that could protect me were the Cullens. Like that would happen.


	4. Chapter 4

I must've fallen back asleep. The rare sun was shining through the windows, telling me that it was time to wake. I laid in bed for a few extra minutes. The dream consumed my thoughts, replaying it over and over again.

Victoria was out there, somewhere. I didn't know where, of course, but I knew that she would be back for me at some point. I didn't know what to think of the wolf things that were in the dream. And why did I dream about Jake and I on the beach and then it fast forwarding? I sighed a sad sigh as I thought about my former best friend. I missed him and Embry a lot.

Seeing that it was near 10 o' clock, I decided to get out of bed. I needed to go to the store to get food for tonight. After lunch I went to the store. I picked up the necessary items and headed home. I got some stuff ready for dinner to pass time. I didn't have to work today, so I had the entire day to myself, so I needed something to occupy my time.

As I was getting things ready, my mind kept wondering back to my dream. I just felt like there was something that I was missing or that this dream would come in handy at some point. I needed to occupy my mind with something. I tried watching TV, but there was nothing on. My homework was done and I actually didn't feel like reading for once in my life.

"Pshhh… What to do?" I asked myself out loud. Laundry was done, dishes done. "I guess I can clean my room up a bit." _Great, now I'm talking to myself,_ I thought. There wasn't much to clean up in my room. Just to pick up some trash and straighten things up a little bit. Unfortunately, that didn't take very long. Again, I tried watching TV. There wasn't anything on, as usual. I grabbed a movie from the shelves and popped it in the DVD player. That seemed to occupy myself for a few hours.

Charlie got home at 5. He got off work for dinner so that he could meet Quil, but he said that he would be going back after dinner tonight.

"Do you have to, dad?"

"Yeah, Bells. Until we get this taken care of, there are going to be a lot of late nights. Everything seems to be getting worse. More people are going missing and until we get it stopped, I'm working late a lot."

"Fine." I grumbled.

I started working on dinner. Charlie went into the living room to watch whatever game was on. I was just pulling the chicken out of the oven when I heard a car pull into the driveway. I raced to the door. Quil was getting out of the car when I got to the door and opened it.

"Hi." I greeted with a smile.

"Hey." He said as he walked into the house.

"Dad." I shouted. Charlie walked in. "Dad, this is Quil. Quil, this is my dad, Charlie."

"Nice to meet you Chief Swan." Quil held out a hand and Charlie took it, shaking it slightly.

"Charlie." He said. "Nice to meet you too." Charlie was giving Quil an almost death glare. I said a silent prayer that Charlie wouldn't go overboard on the questions tonight.

"Well, dinner is ready. So I guess we can eat now." I said. We walked into the kitchen, grabbing our food on the way to the table. I gave Charlie a look that said 'be nice.' He returned the look with a look of innocence. We sat down at the table, Quil sitting across from Charlie and me in the middle.

"This is really good, Bella." Quil commented.

"Thanks." I said with a small blush on my cheeks.

"So, Quil. Do you have a job? Go to school?" Charlie asked.

Oh gosh. Here we go. I thought.

"Yeah. I go to school on the Rez. And I work at the car shop after school and on the weekends." Quil answered.

"Good. How is work going for you?"

"Slow. Not much going on." Charlie nodded. "How are things at the station?" Quil asked.

"Busy. Our one missing person just turned into five. Two are from Forks. One from Tacoma and two from Seattle. Police think that they are all related now. Gang activity or some serial killer or something."

Or Victoria. I thought. I shuddered at the thought. Quil and Charlie must've noticed.

"Are you ok, Bella?" Quil asked.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Just a little cold, I guess." Please let them believe my lie.

"Do you want to get a sweatshirt or something?" Charlie asked.

"No. I'm fine."

"Ok then. So, what do you do when you aren't working or at school, Quil?"

"Uh, well, just hang out with Bella, really. There isn't much to do on the Rez for me anymore other than work and school."

"Define hangout."

I almost chocked on my food. I should've seen this coming. "Dad!"

"What? It was just a simple question. No harm done."

"Uhhhh," Quil didn't seem to know how to answer the abrupt question. "We went to the festival downtown the other day. And we went out to dinner one night and then went to a movie. You know, just hanging out."

"Mmm. Are you going to meet his parents, Bell?"

"Yeah. Next weekend."

"What are your parents like, Quil?"

"My dad is a construction worker and my mom is a second grade teacher at the local elementary school."

"Do you have any siblings?"

"No. I'm an only child."

"Ok, Quil. I'm going to cut right to it. I know what Edward did. And I know that you know what Jake and even Embry did. And as long as you don't do what they did, I have no problem with you. You keep her smiling and I can't thank you enough for that."

"Well Charlie, I can assure you that I have absolutely no intentions of doing what any of them did. I know what she went through as well with loosing Jake and Embry and I am not going to make her go through that again."

"Good." Charlie took a drink of his soda. "Bella, that was a very good meal. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go watch the game now." Charlie got up, putting his plate in the sink and walking into the living room. Quil and I continued sitting at the kitchen table talking.

"Well, that went better than I thought it would." I said.

"You thought it would end badly?" He questioned.

"I didn't think it would end that well. I thought there would be more, harder questions. Not the simple 'get to know you' small questions like 'Do you have any siblings?" I was expecting more of 'What are your intentions with my daughter?' questions."

Quil laughed at that. "Well, ok then. Hey, have you heard about the wolves that people are seeing?"

"Yeah. I heard some hikers talking about them at work yesterday. One of them didn't think that they could be wolves though, since they were so big."

"Hm. Yeah, I thought I saw one the other day. I thought that I was just seeing things at first. Then I figured that you might've heard something since you work at the sports store."

"That's all that I heard from them. Then I blocked them out. That was after the Mike incident and I was just focused on wanting to go home."

"So did Mike finally get the idea?"

"He better have. He looked pretty dumbstruck when I looked at him after I walked away. And he pretty much avoided me for the rest of the day. Please don't be jealous. He's been trying to get me to go out with him since the day I came here, and he hasn't even close to getting even a maybe."

"No. I'm not jealous or anything like that. I just think that he has some problems."

"Yeah, I know. Him and his girlfriend just broke-up and he's already starting this up again."

"Did he break up with her?" Or the other way around?"

"He broke up with her. I guess he decided that he wanted to be just friends. He wouldn't even have dated Jess if I hadn't told him that she liked him. But they started dating right before prom last year and just broke up the other day."

"Ah. So, no wonder he's already over her and trying to get to you now."

"Yeah. No wonder." I rolled my eyes. "Do you want to help me with the dishes? I mean, you don't have to if you don't wan-"

"No, it's fine. I'll help." He interrupted.

"Ok. I'll wash and you dry?"

"Fine with me."

After finishing the dishes, Charlie came in, saying that he would be heading off to work then. After getting a warning glare to both of us, he left. After making sure he was out of sight, Quil and I curled up on the couch to watch a movie.

"Do you think it went well, meeting my dad?" I asked about half way through the movie.

"Yeah. I thought that it went very well."

"Should I be expecting it to go that well with your parents?"

"My parents are very nice people. Very welcoming. I wouldn't worry too much about them. Except my mom. Nothing bad but she might attack you in a bear hug or something." He laughed.

"Great. I look forward to it."

"I cant wait for you to meet my parents. I think that you will get along great with them. Oh. Wow, it's already 10:30." He said, looking at the clock.

"Oh my gosh. I didn't realize how late it was. I'm sorry for keeping you out so late."

"Don't worry about it, really. But I should be going now. Will I see you before Saturday?"

"I don't know. I have to work everyday this week. It's getting to be warmer, so we're getting busier. And I have finals to study for. So it's a pretty busy week."

"Alright. Well, I'll talk to you sometime this week then, if I don't see you."

"Yeah. Of course." We started for the door. Quil grabbed his jacket off of the hanger, putting it on. I was expecting a kiss on the cheek, but instead, he gave a kiss on the lips. I was a little stunned at first, but I quickly responded by kissing him back. We continued kissing until he pulled away.

"I need to get going." He said. "Bye, Bella"

"Bye." I said. I stood on the porch until his car was out of view.

I went upstairs to shower and brush my teeth. _Quil had kissed me._ I thought over and over in head. As I got ready for bed, I thought about his soft lips pressed against mine. It just felt like we fit together. Quil wasn't so cautious when it came to things like cuddling and kissing. Edward was always so afraid that he was going to do something that he would regret. I liked that Quil wasn't like that.

Going to bed, I was excited, but also a little nervous to be meeting his parents next weekend. Quil assured me that his parents were very kind people and I trusted what he said. That seemed to put my mind to rest enough to fall asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

The week went by fairly quickly. I didn't look forward to the busy schedule though. Between work, school and studying for finals, I barley had anytime to eat. I didn't like working everyday this week, but the paycheck was nice at the end of the week.

Mike and I didn't talk much, only when forced too which wasn't often. We pretty much avoided each other the entire week. I could see that he was trying keep his distance from me, which I was thankful for. I'm sure that Quil would be too once I told him.

School was pretty much the same for all of my classes all week. Everyday we walked into class and were told to study for exams coming up in the next few days, or we finished up the lesson that we were on. I was pretty confident that I wouldn't have much trouble on my exams between studying at school and at home. Plus, Angela and I had gotten together one night after I had gotten off of work to study.

I was looking forward to Saturday night. Even though Quil had assured me that his parents would love me, I was still slightly nervous. Questions like: 'What if they don't like me?' or 'What if I say the wrong thing?' ran through my mind frequently.

When Saturday came, all I could think about was how to approach his parents. _Just be yourself, Bella. That's what they want, to know the real you, not the fake you. _I thought to myself. That thought seemed to put my mind at ease a bit. I cleaned for most of the day, anything to keep my mind off of how tonight could end. I took my time doing things: making sure that the dishes were spotless and the laundry was folded perfectly and put in its proper place. I remembered feeling this way on the day that I was going to meet Edward's parents, thinking that they wouldn't like me. I quickly pushed that thought away.

"Nope, Bella. Not going to think about him. You promised yourself that you weren't going to dwell on your previous relationship with him." I said to myself as I was folding the laundry.

Realizing that it was 5:15, I ran upstairs to change into something more decent than sweat pants. I threw on some jeans and a nice shirt and some tennis shoes. I ran a brush through my hair quickly and ran out the door.

Quil's house wasn't hard to find. It was a small, one story house. The front of the house was neatly decorated with flowers- obviously of his mother's doing- and a small sign that had 'The Ateara's' carved on it sat in front. I spent an extra moment sitting in my truck in the driveway to calm my nerves a bit. I got out of the car and walked up to the front door, where Quil was standing.

"Hey, Bell." He gave me a welcoming kiss on the lips.

"Hi." I said, softly.

"Come on in. My parents have been awaiting your arrival all day." We walked into the small foyer. I could smell something good coming from the kitchen, where his mom walked out of.

"Hello, Bella. I'm Kelly. It's so nice to meet you finally." She greeted me with a warm smile and a huge hug, just like Quil had said that she would.

"Yeah. It's nice to meet you too, Mrs. Ateara."

"Oh please, call me Kelly." Kelly was beautiful, as were all of the other girls of La Push. She had dark brown hair cascading down her back. Her brown eyes seemed to resemble Quil's. She was maybe an inch or two taller than me and slender. Quil looked just like her.

A man, who was fairly tall, walked into the foyer where we were standing. He also had the typical dark skin that most Quileute's had. He introduced himself as Kyle and he was also very friendly. Quil, Kyle and I went into the living room and sat down for a few minutes while Kelly finished dinner. I offered to help, but she replied with, "No, no. You are the guest, Bella. Go sit down in the living room with Quil and Kyle. Dinner will be done shortly."

Quil and I sat on the love seat while his dad sat in the recliner. "Well, Quil. You have a beautiful young lady." I felt a blush creep onto my cheeks at the compliment.

"I know." Quil responded.

"Dinner is ready." Kelly called from the kitchen.

The three of us got up, heading towards the kitchen to get our plates. Kelly had made a roast with potatoes and green beans. I complimented her on how good it tasted.

The four of us talked the entire time in a friendly chatter, something that I wasn't used to at the dinner table with Charlie. Both of us were more comfortable in silence.

"So Bella, do you go to school?" Kyle asked midway through dinner.

"Yeah. I'm a senior at Forks High School. I graduate in a couple of weeks."

"Are you going to college?"

"I just got my acceptance letter to the University of Washington last week. I'm going to major in English."

"So you're an avid reader?" Kelly piped in.

"Yes. Very much so."

"What kind of books do you like?"

"Um, anything Shakespeare, really. Or Jane Austin. But _Wuthering Heights _is my favorite."

"Mmm, so the Classics." She mused. "Those are some of my favorites too." She smiled. I knew that we would get along just fine.

"Bella, you didn't tell me that you got accepted." Quil said.

"I didn't? I thought I did. I guess it slipped my mind. I've been so busy this week."

"Well, congratulations on your acceptance." His father said. "Do you have any siblings, Bella?"

"No, my parents got divorced when I was only a few months old."

"Does your mom live in Forks?"

"No, after the divorce she and I moved to Phoenix. She got remarried to a minor league baseball player and they are going to be moving to Jacksonville, Florida soon."

"So what made you come here?"

"My mom liked to travel with my step-dad, Phil. But I was holding her back because she had to stay home with me. So I decided that I should spend some time with my dad."

"Well, that sounds lovely." Kelly said. "Do you work?"

"Yeah. I work at Newtons' Olympic Outfitters after school and on the weekends."

"Speaking of Newton, how has Mike been this week?" Quil gave me a small glance.

"We haven't talked much this week. We've been avoiding each other this week. I think his mom is starting to think that something is up. She has been giving us weird looks and stuff."

"Who's Mike?" Kyle asked.

"He's a guy that I go to school with. His parents own the store. He's been trying to get me to go out with him since my first day of school. He stopped trying to when he got a girlfriend. They broke up a week or two ago and he has been asking me out again. Eventually I got so frustrated that I blew up on him. He seemed to get the point after that."

"The kid has some serious problems." Quil muttered.

"Well, that was a lovely dinner, but I must be getting a shower and going to bed. I have to get up early for work tomorrow. Again, it was nice to meet you, Bella." Kyle got up, giving Kelly a kiss and went into the kitchen to put his plate in the sink before going into the bathroom.

Quil, Kelly and I finished our dinner soon afterwards. Quil and I went into the living room to watch some T.V. while his mother cleaned up the kitchen. There was nothing on, as usual, and Quil and I mostly talked.

"So, the University of Washington. Why do you want to go there?" Quil asked.

"I didn't want to move far from home. And it's not freakishly expensive. They had the major that I wanted and so I applied."

"So you wont be too far away from me, right?"

"Exactly." I giggled. I gave him a kiss on the lips.

"Did it go better than you expected?"

"Very much so. I was quite at ease with your parents. They're so friendly and welcoming. The exact opposite of my parents. Charlie is just awkward and Renee would be interrogating you about your whole life story."

"Well, my parents aren't like that at all. As long as they can trust you, you're fine. They don't get too worked up about who I am with or where my location is. As long as I am safe and aren't drinking or doing drugs or any of that stuff, of course."

"Well, speaking of whereabouts, I promised Charlie that I would be home by 9:30. It's 9 o' clock, so I guess I should be going now."

Quil had a small pout on his face, in which he looked adorable with. "Ok. I'll walk you out to your car."

I said good-bye to Kelly first before we walked out to the truck. "You asked me about Mike. How have things been going with Paul or whoever?"

"Well, unlike Mike, Paul isn't backing off. If anything, he's been watching me more closely. But he dodges all of my questions, of course."

We were at the truck now. "Are you busy again all week?" He asked.

""I only have to work on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. I might go over to a friends house to study on Monday. But other than that, I'm available. Do you want to get together sometime?"

"Well, I'll have to look at my work schedule. I have exams to study for too. But I'll call you or something." He gave me a lingering kiss. I had to pull away, much to my dismay, to leave.

Charlie was home when I arrived. I figured that he would be watching out for me.

"Did you have a nice time meeting his parents?"

"Yeah. They were very nice."

"That's good. Are you going up to bed now?"

"Yeah. Goodnight, dad."

"Night."

I was glad that tonight had gone over so well. I couldn't believe that I was so worried about how tonight would end. Obviously, I worried over nothing.


	6. Chapter 6

**Quil POV**

I watched as Bella backed out of the driveway. Once her truck was out of sight, I went inside. Mom was sitting on the couch, reading a book. She looked up when I walked into the room.

"Well I thought that went very well. She's a nice girl, Quil."

"Yeah, I know she is."

"Keep her around." Mom smiled at me.

"I plan on it."

"Good. I'm going to bed now. Do you work tomorrow?"

"Yeah. From 2 to 6."

"Ok. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, mom." She went to her room.

I hung out in the living room for a while watching TV. I was glad that everything had gone so well with her meeting my parents, not that I doubted it would. I knew that my parents wouldn't be hammering her with any hard questions or anything like her father had done to me. Some of those questions were just awkward. Of course, I could see the reasons why. He just didn't want what happened to Bella already to happen again. I could respect his protection of his daughter. I would too, had it been my daughter.

Noticing how late it was, I went into the bathroom to brush my teeth and get ready for bed. I went to bed that night thinking of Bella, as always.

I woke up in the middle of the night sweating. I was really hot. I threw the covers off and cranked up my air conditioner, thinking that it was just the summer heat coming in. It was the middle of May, after all. Still though, it was La Push. It was rare to get this hot this early. I went back to bed.

When I woke up around 8, I was still kind of hot. The air conditioner didn't help much. Mom noticed. She had a worried look on her face as if she thought something was up. She told me to take some medicine to break the fever, but it didn't do anything. She also told me to call off work. After getting off of the phone with my boss, I tried eating but nothing looked very appetizing. The omelet that mom made me looked repulsive. I only took a few bites before throwing away the rest and laying on the couch to watch TV.

I heard mom on the phone in the other room. I couldn't make out any coherent words, nor try to make out who she was talking too. "Yes. Have them watching. I think it'll be soon." She said as she walked into the room with the phone still attached to her ear. She hung up a few moments later and gave a worried look in my direction.

"Who was that?" I asked.

"Nothing. Nothing to worry about. You just sit here and I will go get you some water." She walked back into the kitchen, returning with a glass.

"Thanks, mom."

"You're welcome. Try to get some rest."

I continued to watch tv for a while. My body was overheated and it was very uncomfortable and I didn't like it. It was almost miserable. Nothing was helping.

There was a knock on the door. Mom answered it and Grandfather walked in. They both shot a worried look at me before going into the other room.

_What is up with the looks? _I thought to myself. Things were getting weird. It was weird enough when I would get the weird looks from Paul at work or from Embry, Jake and Jared at school, but a whole different thing when it was my mom and grandfather. He left a while later. Again, he looked at me but he had a small smile on his face.

"Goodbye." He said.

"Goodbye." I returned. "Why is everyone giving me weird looks? You and mom are. So are the guys that are part of Sam Uley's pack."

"You will understand soon," was all he said before walking out the door. Once again, I was confused.

"Ugh!"

I heard my phone ringing in my room, indicating that I had a text message. I hopped off of the couch to get it. Looking at the screen, I was even more confused as to why Embry would be texting me, asking me to meet him and Jake outside. I put on some shoes to meet them.

Jake and Embry were in the backyard, waiting on me with bothered looks on their faces. I saw Jake whisper something in Embry's ear. Embry nodded at what Jake said.

"What do you guys want?" I asked.

"We know what's happening to you," Jake started. "Please, just trust us. We can help you."

"What do you mean what's happening to me? Nothing is happening other than the fact that I am running a bit of a fever."

"Actually, something is happening. The same thing that happened to us."

"So am I going to join you guys in Sam's little cult now? I don't think so."

"Sam can help you too. All of us can. You just have to trust us."

"Trust you with what? Somebody please explain what is going on. Paul has been giving me weird looks for the past few weeks. So have you two and Jared at school. Mom and grandfather are giving me strange looks too. And now you two show up telling me to trust you. I am so confused."

"It might not happen now, but when it does, just remember that we are here and we're going to help."

"When what happens?" I nearly shouted.

"You'll see soon enough," Embry said.

"But there is something else that we have to tell you."

"And?"

"You have to break up with your girlfriend."

"Girlfriend? What girlfriend?" Jake asked.

I was almost afraid to say the name out loud to him. "Bella." I whispered.

"Bella Swan?"

"Yes." Jake started shaking so fast that his hands were almost a blur. Embry was trying, but apparently failing, to calm him down. "You're dating Bella?" He said through clenched teeth.

"Yes, Jake, I am. And there isn't anything that you can do about it."

"The hell I can. You can't date her. She's mine."

"Really? She's yours? Because you ditched her and when she tries to talk to you, you completely ignore her."

"I have my reasons why."

"What? Sam won't let you see her? You follow him like a lost puppy. And you do too, Embry."

"Like it's our fault," Jake snapped. "We don't have a choice in this lifestyle."

"Lifestyle? You have no life outside of being a part of Sam's group. You can't even choose your own friends." Jake and I had moved closer to each other. We were both angry. Jake was shaking more and I noticed that I was shaking too. We just grew more angry at the presence of each other. Embry was starting to step away, looking like he was ready to bolt at any second.

Everything seemed to happen all at once then. Suddenly, where I had just been standing on two feet, I was on four. Where Jake had been standing was now a russet colored wolf. Embry had phased into a wolf with gray fur, black spots covering his back.

_What the…?_

_Quil. _I heard Embry's thoughts. Ok, this was just weird. _This is what we were talking about. The legends are true. You're a wolf. So are we. Plus Sam, Paul and Jared. Just come with us to Sam. He can explain better than we can._

The three of us started running for Sam's fiancée, Emily's, house. Sam was waiting outside, with his arms crossed over his chest. Emily came out quietly, setting some shorts beside Sam and walked back in.

_Phase back. Just think if being human again. _Embry said.

I phased. Sam threw a pair of shorts to me and I slipped them on quickly. "Somebody please explain what is going on." I said.

"The legends of our ancestors are true, Quil. Every single one of them. We're just the lucky generation to get the gene. Vampires are near and it's our job to protect our people from them." Sam said. One word stuck out to me.

"Vampires?"

"Yes. The Cullen's are vampires. But there are others near. And we need to find and kill them."

"Wait. Let me get this straight. I'm a _werewolf_. And there are _vampires _that we need to kill to protect the people of La Push? This doesn't make any sense."

"Yes. I know that this is a lot to take in right now. But, there's one more thing. You cannot be with Bella anymore."

"Why? I'm not going to let you dictate who I can and cannot date, Sam."

"I'm not trying too. I'm trying to protect both of you. It's not safe for her. You know what happened to Emily's face? Not a bear attack. That was my fault. I got angry and lost it for a second. She was standing too close and now I have to look at her scarred face every day and see what kind of pain I caused her. I don't want you to have to go through what I went through and the same for Bella."

"So you're allowed to be with Emily and Jared is allowed to be with his girlfriend, but I can't be with mine? How is that fair?"

"That's a different story."

"How the hell is that a different story? Please, humor me."

"I imprinted on Emily. And Jared imprinted on Kim. It's just another legend."

"Imprinted?"

"It's kind of like," He seemed at a loss for words for a minute. "Like love at first sight, but stronger. Much, much stronger. It's an unstoppable force. She's like your soul mate, basically. You can't be away from her. That's why it's different."

"So, if I happened to imprint on Bella, I could still be with her."

"Yes. But, it's supposed to be very rare. So don't get your hopes up. When is the next time you'll see her?"

"I don't know. Thursday or Friday maybe."

"Call her. Set up a date this week and tell her that you can't see her anymore. I'll set up a patrol schedule for you."

I knew I would be breaking my promise to her. It sucked. I would hate seeing her hurt again. And it would be my fault this time. "Ok." I sighed.

I decided to run home in my human form. I wanted to clear my head of everything that was going on. I didn't need everybody else's thoughts in my head as well.

I got a hot shower once I got home. The steam seemed to relax my muscles a little bit. Grandfather was sitting on the couch with a small smile on his face when I got out.

"You phased. Good. How did it feel?" He asked.

"Um. I was confused, I guess."

"That's normal, of course. It will come easier to phase back and forth as time goes. Just be careful that you don't phase in front of anyone, especially an outsider. The legends are supposed to be legends, not reality. The rest of the pack, the two imprints and the counsel and family are the only ones that know. But, really make sure not to phase too close to anyone who isn't a wolf. There could be very serious consequences. So try to keep your anger in check." He walked out the front door then.

I texted Bella, asking if we could get together on Thursday. She replied with a yes. I was going to be dreading this meeting and the days leading up to it.


	7. Chapter 7

Sam set up a patrol schedule, which I would start immediately. It was my first time doing it and I was with Jake and Paul. I was patrolling the west side of La Push while Jake took the north and Paul had the south.

I caught a whiff of something that smelled almost like bleach. It was sweet and made my nose burn.

_Jake, Paul. I think I have something. Fresh track._

_We'll be there soon. _Paul said back.

I continued to run along the track. It disappeared on the cliff where the guys cliff dive. I skidded to a stop at the edge. Jake came up behind with Paul right behind him.

_I bet it's the same ones. But what are they after? _Paul asked to himself.

_I__ don't know. But we need to find out. Maybe that will help us know where to find them next time. I'll tell Sam._ Jake said. _Come on. Our shift is done._

We ran back to Emily's house. We phased in the woods and pulled our shorts on. Jake went ahead of Paul and I. Sam was standing in the kitchen waiting for us. Embry and Jared were there, too.

"Anything happen?" Sam asked.

"Quil caught a fresh track," Jake answered. "We think it's the same ones. The scent stopped at the cliffs."

"Ok. You know they found two more hikers. It's getting worse. I think that we will have to up the patrols until the situation is taken care of. Since Quil has joined we have a better chance. Harry thinks that Seth is going to phase soon too. But he's so young so I don't want him to be in much danger with the vampires. But for now, it's just the six of us. We'll keep the same groups. But there are going to be more hours. We'll have to do twelve hour shifts now instead of eight, to make sure that nothing gets by. That will start immediately after school gets out. We will take midnight to noon and you guys take noon to midnight. But for now, I guess it will just be Paul and I during the day. The rest of you guys can take the afternoons. You guys can have from three to ten. Howl for an alarm. Phase if you need to and keep on the watch. Jake, do you have anything to add?"

"No. I think you pretty much covered it."

"Ok. Let's go guys." Sam. Embry and Jared left then. I went home to get something to eat and shower before bed. My appetite had grown and so did I. I was taller now, and more muscular. I wondered if Bella would notice and ask about it when I saw her this week.

I wasn't looking forward to having to see her. Normally I would be really happy to, but knowing that I was going to cause her pain was unbearable. I didn't want to see her like that again. I knew that it would protect her, but I didn't think that was worth not being with her.

After eating, I texted Bella to wish her a goodnight. She didn't respond, so I figured that she was asleep. It was just after midnight and I was exhausted. I had to get up at seven for school. Just two more weeks and then two days of exams and I was done. I was ready for summer.

I didn't want to get up the next morning. First of all, it was Monday. Second, I was tired from patrolling last night. I dragged myself out of bed and started getting ready. After grabbing a bowl of cereal, I went to my car.

The ride to school was rainy. _Great weather to start off the week_, I thought. I could already tell that it wasn't going to be a very good day.

I arrived at school. I took a seat by Jake in world studies, since we were talking again. We were watching a video. I don't even know what it was about because I was so distracted by own mind.

Jake kept giving me looks, like he thought something was wrong.

"Are you ok?" he whispered to me.

"Yeah," I nodded. He gave another look before turning back to the screen.

Class ended after what seemed like forever. Second period seemed to drag on too. Lunch finally came. I sat with Jake, Embry and Jared. We discussed what our plans were for finding the leeches on our territory.

We would all head out after school to relieve Sam and Paul for a few hours. Then we would be doing the twelve hour shifts once school was out for the summer.

The rest of the day dragged out. As I was sitting in math, I kept glancing at clock. I never thought the bell was going to ring. Finally, at 2:15, it rang and I raced out to my car.

Me and the rest of the guys met at Sam and Emily's house. Paul and Sam hadn't caught anything new or any fresh tracks. The rest of us started our patrols. For the next eight hours we would be making rounds across La Push. It was going to be difficult for the next two weeks. We would be on patrol from 3-11 and we still had school. Not to mention the exams that were coming up and work. It would be a long two weeks, too. Plus, I wasn't looking forward to Thursday, either. That thought was enough to make the next few days drag on forever.

11 o' clock came and I headed home. I ate what was in the fridge and took a quick shower to get the dirt off of my skin. As I was getting dressed and brushing my teeth, I went over some flash cards for exams. I crawled into bed and fell asleep almost immediately.

Tuesday seemed to go by a little bit quicker, but not by much. We didn't catch anything on patrol. Sam said that it wasn't surprising. They usually came and then would disappear when we showed up, then came back after a few days. By Thursday, we still had nothing.

Sam was giving me the night off so that I could see Bella. I dreaded 5 o' clock when we were meeting. We were meeting at the park. I arrived shortly before she did. Her truck pulled up beside me. I got out of the car, not wanting to look into her eyes.

"Bella, I need to talk to you about something."

"What is it?" I could hear worry in her voice. She pulled my face up to hers with her hand, forcing me to look into her eyes. "Quil, what do you need to talk to me about?"

Something changed then. I felt something that I had never felt before. I felt a gravitational pull towards Bella. Bella must've felt something, too, because the look on her face changed. It went from worry and concern to love and adoration.

"Um..uh.." I couldn't get the words out. I knew what happened. I imprinted. This was going to make things difficult. "Bella, I, uh.." _Come on, Quil! _My inner thoughts were screaming at me to say something. "Bella, I just wanted you to know that I don't know how much time we'll have to spend together for a while. Something came up nad I might be pretty busy for a while." I didn't lie, I just didn't tell her everything.

"Ok. That's," she sighed in disappointment. "Going to be hard. But we'll work it out."

"Yeah. We can work it out, of ocurse. And I also thought that you should know that I have been hanging out with Jake and Embry again."

"Did they ditch Sam or something?"

"No. I have been hanging out with his group lately. They're actually pretty cool guys."

"What happened to not getting sucked in?"

"Bella, please understand, Same is helping me with something. So are the rest of the guys. I can't tell you what it is right now. I can't really explain it myself. But Sam could. Please, if you just give him the chance, I'm sure that he could explain everything a lot better than I can."

She stood there for a few minutes biting down on her lip, something I noticed she did when she was thinking hard about something. "Fine. I'll give him a chance to explain. When and where?"

"Is Saturday good?"

"Yeah."

"Ok. I'll pick you up and we can go to his house. Is noon good?"

"Yeah. I'll see you then."

She started going back for her truck, but I grabbed her arm, making her spin around to me. I gave her a kiss on the lips. The kiss seemed to send an electric shock through me. Knowing that this could be the last kiss I give her, I let it continue a little longer.

We reluctantly pulled away. She left in front of me. She turned back towards Forks and I went home to drop off my car. I phased and ran to Sam's house. The night was replaying in my head.

_Well that changes things. _Jared said.

I ignored the voices in my head. There was one silent, but I ignored that. It was Jake. I wasn't sure what the meaning of his silence was, anger or sadness.

I got to Sam's. He was waiting for me. I ran up to the house after phasing back and putting my shorts on.

"Sam, we have to talk."

"How did it go?"

"Definitely _not _how I was expecting it too."

"What do you mean?"

"I imprinted on her." I said in almost a whisper.

"What? You imprinted on her? Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. And I just couldn't do it. So I sort of lied to her."

"What did you say?"

"Just that I was going to be busy for a while and that I didn't know how much we were going to get to see each other for a while. And I told her that you and the rest of the pack were helping me out with something. I told her that I couldn't tell her, but that you could probably explain better than I could."

"Well, this changes things. Do you want her to know?"

"Of course. I don't there to be any secrets between us."

"When do you want to tell her?"

"I told her that I would pick her up on Saturday at noon nad bring her over here so that we could explain everything."

"Alright. We'll tell her everything then. You do understand what could happen though, right? I don't think that you need a reminder of that like I do with Emily."

"Yeah, I know."

"Ok. We'll talk to her on Saturday. Go home and get some rest."

"Thanks." I ran back home and went to bed thinking of how Saturday was going to end. I think I was more nervous about this than I was about today.


	8. Chapter 8

When I looked into Quil's eyes, something changed. Some sort of gravitational force was pulling at me. I couldn't explain it. I left the parking lot in a sort of daze. Between the feeling that I needed to be with Quil and the confusion of when he said that Sam could explain things, I just felt like I needed to go home and think about some things.

When Quil mentioned Sam, I thought that he was going to leave me. I started dying inside again like I had before. I didn't know what I had done to make him choose Sam over me like Jake had. Embry too. Once he said that things could be explained, I felt a little better, but I wouldn't feel completely ok until I had the answer of if he was leaving me or not. I guess I would find out on Saturday.

As Friday went on, I went through all of the possibilities of what could happen. I didn't know what Quil and Sam were going to explain to me and that did worry me a little.

I was in a bit of a daze at lunch. My mind had been racing with different scenarios all day.

"Bella, Bella." Angela was waving her hand in my face trying to get my attention.

"Oh. Sorry about that. What were you asking me?"

"I was asking if you were free on tomorrow to get some final studying in. Exams are on Thursday and Friday."

"Oh. Um, no I'm not. I have to meet Quil tomorrow afternoon. And I don't know how long we'll be out. And I have to work everyday next week. Sorry." I gave her an apologetic smile.

"Oh no. Don't be sorry. It's ok."

At 2:30 I was anxious to get home. Charlie was staying out late again tonight. I checked on the roast and potatoes in the crock pot before doing some laundry. I decided to skip on the studying for the night. I had done more than enough of that for the past few weeks.

I had less that 24 hours until going to see Quil and Sam. Whether things would go well or not I wasn't sure. I could only hope that things went well and things could work out for us. Since he was hanging out with Sam, I was going to prepare myself for a breakup. I didn't know, however, if I would be prepared enough for it if it came.

"Ugh!" I threw the pillow on my bed over my face. "I hate uncertainty in life!" I realized I was talking to myself again.

I got a shower and brushed my teeth after dinner. I went to bed early because I had nothing else to do and I wanted my mind to be at peace for a few hours, at least.

Multiple dreams ran through my head. They all involved Quil and I. A dream of our relationship ending, a dream of us being happy together. There was another one of him and Sam explaining things to me. I couldn't make out what they were saying, but the look on my face was a mixture of shock and horror.

I woke up around four in the morning. So much for being at peace for the night. _8 hours_, I thought. I was counting down the hours until the fate of mine and Quil's relationship would be told.

_I bet Sam is a big jerk. Is it wrong to assume things about someone that you haven't even met? Well, he did steal two of my best friends. And now possibly my boyfriend. Nope. Not a bad thing to assume. I bet Sam is a big jerk_. The inner monologue with myself was keeping me up. I shut my mind up by turning my iPod and going back to sleep.

When the alarm went off a few hours later, I got dressed and grabbed a bowl of cereal. I flipped through the channels while eating. My attention was caught by a story on the morning news. "Witnesses have reported seeing a wolf or bear like animal while hiking through the woods. They say that the animals look like wolves, but are taller than themselves, even on all fours. Police think that these animals may have something to do with the disappearance of Riley Biers, who was last seen walking out of a local bar, which is located near a wooded area where wolves have been spotted near by. Police urge people not to go into the woods and to stay indoors at night. And if you have any information on the wolves or Riley Biers, please contact the number at the bottom of the screen." A picture of Riley popped on the screen. I recognized him as the kid that Charlie was trying to find. I turned off the TV. I had my own problems to deal with. I didn't need to hear about other people's problems.

I got dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. I still had a few hours until Quil was going to be here. To pass the time I did some laundry and the dishes from last night. Quil pulled into the driveway promptly at noon. I got in the car where he greeted my with a kiss.

"So, what is Sam going to explain to me?"

"Just the reason why me and the other guys are a part of his pack now."

We pulled up to a small cottage. The aroma coming from the house smelled of blueberry muffins and it was mouthwatering. We walked in to see a young woman pulling the muffins out of the oven. She had long, silk black hair that reached down the middle of her back. She had the same copper skin that everyone else on the Reservation had. When she turned around, I saw that she had two long scars on the right side of her face.

"Don't stare." Quil whispered in my ear, low enough so that the woman couldn't hear.

"Hi Quil. Who's this?" The girl asked looking at me.

"Emily, this is Bella. Bella, this is Sam's fiancée Emily."

"So, you're the famous Bella Swan. It's nice to meet you finally." Emily wrapped me in a hug.

"Yeah, it's nice to meet you too."

"Sam is outside waiting for you."

Quil and I walked outside to see Sam standing near the woods. He was only wearing cut off shorts, typical for the guys in his pack to be wearing.

"Can we just get this thing over with. She needs to know." Quil said.

"Yeah. I'll explain the first part and you can take the second."

"Alright. Bella, I just need you to keep an open mind and not freak out, ok?"

"Ok."

Sam began talking, "Bella, we know that you have had a past with some…mythical creatures. Well, we want to introduce you to one more."

"Hu?" I asked. I wasn't in the mood for a guessing game.

"Did Jake ever tell you the legends of the tribe?"

"Yeah. He said something about wolves."

"Well the legends are true. You see, some people of the tribe got the gene and we're werewolves."

I wasn't really surprised. After the Cullen's being vampires, I was willing to believe anything.

"So, you're a werewolf?" I looked to Quil.

"Yes. Would you like to see?"

I nodded. Quil ran into the woods where I couldn't see him. Sam stayed with me. After a moment, a chocolate brown wolf emerged from the woods. I stood there, my mouth slightly open looking at Quil in his wolf form. I reached out to touch his fur. To make sure that it was real.

Sam nodded to Quil and he went back into the woods. He came back out in his clothing.

"You aren't freaked out, are you?" Quil asked me.

"No, not at all. I can't say that I'm surprised that werewolves exist. After the Cullen's being vampires, I'll believe anything."

"Good." He looked relieved.

"Quil, the other thing." Sam reminded him.

"Oh. Right. Do you want to take a walk with me, Bella?" I nodded and took his hand. We walked on a path in the woods behind the house. We came to a small clearing and Quil stopped to start talking.

"Bella, there are more legends than just us being werewolves. There's one about this thing called imprinting. Basically, when a wolf imprints, they find their soul mate. Other half, if you will." I didn't know where he was going with this conversation. "Everything changes. The only thing that matters is her. They would being anything and do anything for their imprint. Their whole world shifts and that person is what keeps them on this earth, not gravity."

"Where are you going with this?"

"Bella, when I looked into your eyes on Thursday at the park, well to be honest I was there because I had to break up with you. I didn't want too, but I had to for your safety. But when I looked into your eyes, my entire world shifted to revolve around you. I imprinted on you."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Bella, I will be anything that you need me to be. A brother, a friend, a lover, or anything else that you need me to be for you. And it kills me to be away from you."

"Oh wow. This is a lot to take in in one day." I muttered under my breath. "Quil, why were you going to break up with me? What does my safety have to do with this?"

"The same reason Embry and Jake had to leave us. Did you see the scars on Emily's face? Sam did that. It was an accident. You see, we can phase voluntarily. But we also phase when our anger gets to be too much. Sam got angry. Emily was standing too close and he scratched her. It was a total accident and he didn't want anyone to get hurt like she did. So he made everyone stop seeing their friends from the outside world."

"And I'm an outside friend. Ok." I prepared myself for this, but not enough because it still hurt.

"Bella, listen to me." He grabbed my hands and forced me to look at him. "I'm not going anywhere. The reason that sam can't make me leave you is because of the imprint. Sam imprinted on Emily nad Jared imprinted on a girl named Kim. It would absolutely kill me if I did something to harm you in anyway. I am not going to leave you."

"Quil, I believe you."

"I love you, Bella."

"I love you too, Quil." We kissed for I don't know how long. "So Jake and Embry are wolves too?"

"Yes. And Sam, Paul and Jared."

"Does Jake know about the imprint?"

"No, not yet. I haven't told him. Sam is the only one that knows. And Emily. That's it."

"Ok. He's going to be pissed, isn't he?"

"Oh yeah. Most likely. Do you want to tell him? Or do you want me to tell him?"

"Can we both tell him? I mean, if he gets pissed off, I don't want to be there with out protection."

"Of course. Let's go tell him."


	9. Chapter 9

We pulled up to Jake's house 10 minutes later. Billy was surprised to see me there with Quil. We went into Jake's room where he sleeping.

"Wake up, man." Quil hit him a few times on the chest before he woke up.

"What?" Jake asked groggily. He saw me. "What is she doing here?"

"Jake, we need to tell you something."

"What?"

"Come outside." We walked outside. Billy looked at us with a confused expression on his face.

"What do you need to tell me?"

"You know that Bella and I dated before I phased. I went to break-up with her. Sam's orders. And I imprinted on her."

Jake's face started to go red before blowing up on Quil. "You can't have her! She's mine!"

"Jake is wasn't in my control and you know that. I can't help it."

"Well, if you hadn't dated her in the first place it wouldn't have happened."

"It would have eventually." Jake started to shake from his anger. "Bella, get back. Go inside.

I ran to the house afraid of what was going to happen. I stood on the porch as they continued to fight and Jake continued to shake harder. Whatever was said, caused Jake to disappear and a russet colored wolf to take his place. Quil phased and they attacked each other. They kept fighting, biting and clawing at each other. I watched in fear of what could happen to them. If either of them got hurt, it would be because of me.

Billy came out in his wheelchair. "Why are they fighting?"

"Because Quil imprinted on me and Jake got angry."

"Ah. So Quil imprinted on you. Good. You guys are great for each other."

"I don't want either of them to get hurt."

"They won't hurt each other. Let them fight it out. Why don't you come inside." He wheeled back into the house and I followed. I sat on the couch wondering what was happening. Jake and Quil came in a half hour later. Jake was still fuming, but didn't look as mad as he was before. Quil gestured for us to leave. We were going to go get something to eat.

"Quil, I was watching the news this morning. They said that people have been seeing wolves that are huge. Is that you guys?"

""Yes."

"They said that they might have something to do with the disapperance of Riley Beirs."

"Bella, that has nothing to do with us. It's vampires"

"What?"

"Yeah. We found Riley. He's a vampire now. And he's hanging with some red-head and a dude with dreads. We've been trying to catch them for a while now. But they keep slipping away from us. We just need to know what they want so that we have a better chance catching them."

"Did you say red-head and dreads?"

"Yeah." I felt like I couldn't breath. I felt like an elephant was sitting on chest. "Bella, are you ok?"

"Victoria and Laurent." I whispered.

"What? You know them?"

"Yeah. I know them. And I know what they want."

We were in the parking lot of the restaurant. "What do they want, Bella?"

"Me." Was all that I could say.

"Bella, are you sure?"

"Yes. 100% sure that they want me. It's the only reason they're here." Quil pulled out of his parking space and started heading back for La Push. "Where are we going?"

"Sam's house. We need to tell him."

We got to the house and rushed inside. Sam looked confused as to why we were needing to talk to him in such a hurry.

"She wants Bella. The red-headed leech wants Bella." Quil said fast.

"Why would she want Bella?" Sam asked.

They both looked to me. I started telling them about the Spring Break incident. I told them about how Edward took me to a baseball game with his family and that we had meet some nomadic vampires. I told them about James being a tracker and the plan that we came up with. I told them that James bit me. Edward got the venom out while Carlisle was trying to save me from bleeding to death and Alice, Emmett and Jasper killed James. I told them that Victoria was out there to get me killed because her mate was killed. I showed them the scar that was on my wrist from James biting me. They listened to every detail that I said.

"Quil, go phase and get the guys on patrol. I'll get the others. We need to have a meeting."

Within the next half hour, the entire pack was at the house. Sam went over everything that I had told them and gave everyone a new patrol schedule. He also made it so that at least one wolf was always near my house incase Victoria was ever to get close. Tonight, Quil and Paul would be around the house.

"We need people to be patrolling around the Clearwater house. Seth might be phasing soon. And Leah is showing signs of phasing, too." Sam said.

"Woah," Jared. "Leah can't phase. She's a chick."

"I know. I talked to the elders. They didn't think that girls could phase, but it's likely. Sue said that they have both been running a fever and going through growth spurts. Either way, somebody needs to be there when they do phase. Everything goes into effect tonight. Paul and Quil will be patrolling around Bella's house and I will be at the Clearwater's. Embry, Jake and Jared get some rest. You guys will take over in 12 hours."

Quil and I, along with Paul got in Quil's car. We went back to my house. I was worried fro them. Who knew what Victoria was capable of. Especially when she had Laurent and Riley on her side. That worried me. She was three times stronger now with more people as her alliances.

"Don't worry about us, Bella. We'll be fine. We're faster than them and we were created to kill vampires."

"Then why haven't you caught her yet?"

"We don't have enough people to search the entire area at one time. She finds where we aren't and goes from there. We keep getting close. Plus, there are three of them. So that makes it harder. And when she gets cornered, she goes into the water. That makes things difficult too. She isn't consistent either. She comes and goes at random times. Sometimes during the day and sometimes at night. It's hard to figure out where she is and when. Don't worry about us. You're the most important thing right now."

"I just don't want you to get hurt because of me."

"Bella," Paul said. "The bigger the pack gets, the easier. Two more people are coming in soon, and that makes a big difference. We're faster and stronger than them. So don't worry about our safety."

"See. Even Paul agrees with me. Go inside and get something to eat. Try to get some rest. We'll be fine." We kissed before they left.

I got something to eat, but I didn't eat much. I didn't have much of an appetite because I was too concern red with everyone's safety. I decided to take a shower and crash early. I wasn't in the mood to do anything. And I really wasn't in the mood to deal with Charlie when he got home. Quil's car was still in the driveway and the a conversation I didn't wasn't to have tonight. What would I say? 'Oh a vampire is trying to kill me so my werewolf boyfriend and his friends are trying to catch her.' Yeah, because that would go well.


	10. Chapter 10

I just got home from the first night of patrolling at Bella's house. It was a good thing Paul and I left before Charlie woke up. I didn't think Bella would want to explain to him why my car was in their driveway all night. That conversation probably wouldn't go well.

I crashed in my bed. We didn't get anything last night. Those who were patrolling at the Clearwater's house were thinking that Seth and Leah would be phasing soon. I really hoped Leah didn't phase. Not because she was a girl, but because none of us wanted to suffer the fact of having to see her naked. That would be really awkward. Plus, Sam was dating her before Emily came along. Leah was still pretty upset about the break-up. I could only assume that her thoughts were going to be hell to have to listen to. The worst part of it for her is the fact that she gets to be a bridesmaid for Sam and Emily's wedding. That must suck. But, regardless, if she does phase, she is a part of the pack.

I woke up to the sound of my phone going off, indicating I had a text message. Bella asked of we had gotten anything last night and I responded with a no. I decided to get up knowing I wouldn't be able to get back to sleep. I was hungry too. I went into the kitchen to grab a few sandwiches. There was a note on the fridge from mom saying that she would be out late tonight. Dad was on a business trip in Minneapolis and wouldn't be back for a few days.

Both of my parents knew about me being a wolf. They knew about the existence of vampires, too. That made everything so much easier. There didn't have to be any secrets now between any of my family in La Push or Bella. The only family that didn't know was my mom's side. They weren't natives of the Quileute tribe and didn't know the stories. It made things a lot easier with Bella, too. I didn't want there to be any secrets between us.

Sam called me on my cell phone. Leah had just phased and Seth followed soon after. Leah had gotten angry at something and triggered the phase. Seth, a pretty calm and sometimes shy kid, phased out of fear for what he had seen Leah do. I couldn't blame him. I was pretty scared when I had phased myself. Sam said that him and Jake would be with them for the night and tomorrow to help them get to know what was going on with them. I was glad that they had phased. That meant more protection for Bella and a greater chance at catching Victoria. That also meant less hours for the rest of us to patrol around her house.

Sam said that we would be getting new patrol schedules... again. With two more people in the pack, we needed a new schedule. We were supposed to meet at Sam's house the next day to discuss the new schedule and explain things to Leah and Seth.

I sat in the couch flipping through channels on TV. I decided to watch the baseball game that was on. Other than being a person that could burst out into a furry animal on four legs that chased vampires, I led a very boring life. I left once it was my time for patrol.

I phased outside and ran to Bella's with Paul. The night was stagnant. Boring again, just as last night. We didn't get anything. Victoria wasn't consistent and it was aggravating at times. I just wanted her dead so that we didn't have to worry about her anymore.

Paul and I ran to Sam's house right after patrol. I was already out for summer break, so I didn't have school. We grabbed some shorts from the woods and slipped them on before going inside the house. Everyone except for Sam, Seth, and Leah were there. Emily pulled some cookies out of the oven and left, probably going to meet Kim.

Sam walked in the door with Seth following right behind him. Leah came in a few minutes later, looking scared, confused, and above all, pissed off. Sam took a seat at the table with Seth and Leah. Jake sat by Sam since he was beta in the pack. The rest of us gathered around standing or sitting on bar stools. Sam started, "Look, Seth and Leah, we know that this is hard and confusing, but we've all been through it. Things will get easier. But right now, we have a problem. Jake, do want to take this part?"

"Sure," he said. "Werewolves exist, so you guys shouldn't be surprised that vampires exist, too. That's why we exist. Our purpose is to protect the people of our tribe from vampires. There used to be a coven in Forks. The Cullen family was different, though. They only hunted animals. One of them, Edward, dated Bella Swan, Quil's girlfriend. Long story short, the Cullen's and Bella met a group of vampires who feed off of humans. Two of them were mates and the male was killed by Edward's siblings. Now his mate has come to kill Bella as pay back for what the Cullen's did. And we have to kill her so that she can't kill anyone else." Jake stopped, looking at Sam for him to continue.

"Thanks, Jake. So we have patrol schedules. There will always be at least two people near Bella's house and two others running La Push at all times while the other four rest and prepare for their run. Shifts will be the same for us. Plus Leah will go on the noon shift and Seth will be on the midnight shift. But since Seth is young and still is in school, he will only go from midnight to four, at least for this week and next until school is out for him. This will continue until Victoria gets caught.

"Victoria comes and goes as she pleases. She isn't consistent. Usually, if we get her cornered, she goes into the water. Otherwise she jumps between cities. She may also have others with her. She may not though. It will either be a dude with dreads or Riley Biers, if you know who that is. If not, I'm sure Bella can get a picture from her dad for us."

"This is so cool." Seth said. He was young and excited by the whole reality of mythical creatures existing. And being one was the icing on the cake. Chasing vampires was just as exciting to him as being a werewolf. Leah was a different story, though. She was bitter. She hated the fact of having to be a part of the pack or anything to do with Sam. I could tell by her thoughts that I heard earlier today.

"This is ridiculous, Sam. I don't have to be in this stupid pack and follow your orders. Give the leech what she wants and everything can be done and over with." I flinched at that. The thought of losing Bella made me want to scream. And hearing Leah say that, made me want to phase right there with anger, but I didn't.

"No, Leah. Our purpose is to protect people, not get them killed. That isn't why we exist. And you do have to follow my orders. I'm alpha of the pack and Jake is next as beta. You follow my orders above all. If I'm not here, then you follow Jake's. You don't have a choice. So you're going to go on patrol and help catch the vampires."

"Whatever." she rolled her eyes.

We all left then. I called Bella when I got home to tell her about Leah and Seth. She asked if I wanted to come over and I accepted. I ran back home and got in the car to head to her house. I walked in the house and could smell something coming from the kitchen. I walked in and saw her looking out the kitchen window with her back to me. I wrapped my arms around her waist and she jump, startled.

"Oh, Quil. It's just you. Hi."

"Hey." I kissed her on the lips. "Something smells good." I commented.

"I was just heating up some leftovers from last night. Do you want something?" "

Sure. I'm starving." Bella walked over to the fridge and pulled out some containers. She grabbed a plate and fork out of the cabinet and started putting some roast beef and potatoes on the plate before placing it in the microwave to warm up.

"Do you want something to drink? We have water, milk, Mt. Dew and iced tea."

"Mt. Dew is good." she pulled it out of the fridge along with the pitcher of tea. She poured herself a glass and set them on the table while I grabbed the food out of the microwave. We sat down to eat. Bella asked about how Seth and Leah were taking the whole situation. Bella asked about why Leah would be so bitter towards Sam and I explained the whole thing to her. "Please don't think anything bad about Emily or Sam. It's not their fault that it happened like that."

"Of course it isn't. I'm not going to judge any of them."

"When is your graduation?"

"June sixth at 1:30. Are you going to come?"

"Yeah. I'll be able too. As long as nothing happens, I'll be there. Is it at the school?"

"Yeah. It's going to be in the gym. Charlie will be there. I'm sure that you could sit with him."

"Ok. Thanks." I looked at the clock and saw that I needed to be heading home to sleep. I sighed in disappointment. Bella saw what I was looking at and knew what it meant.

"You have to leave, don't you?"

"Yeah. I need to get some sleep. I don't think that Paul and I will be here tonight. We will probably be patrolling La Push tonight. It will be Sam and Seth most likely. Leah and Embry are out there right now."

"But you will be back tomorrow night?"

"Yeah. I'll be back tomorrow night. I love you."

"I love you too." we kissed and I left to go home.

I fell asleep quickly and was awakened by my alarm going off. I ran outside and phased to start my shift. Paul was taking the north and east side while I took the south and west side of La Push. About half way through the run, I saw a flash of red, then of black and then another flash. I saw Victoria along with her friends standing in front of me. I let out a howl, signaling the others to come. Paul could see everything going on through my thoughts and said that he was on the way. Victoria seemed to give a signal to Riley. He fled going east. The one in dreads left going north. It was just me and Victoria. Paul arrived then. We chased her, but she escaped in the water again. Once we cornered her on the cliff, she jumped and swam to wherever she was going to go.

_Damn. She always gets away. _Paul said aggravated.

_Did she escape again? _Jake asked as he was running to meet us with the rest of the pack.

_Yeah. She hit the water again. _I said.

_Ok. Finish up the run. They probably won't come back for a few days if we are lucky. __I__'ll have to talk to Sam about trying a new approach to get her or something._ Jake and Seth left going back to Bella's house. Paul went back to where he was and we continued patrol. Other than the fresh track of vampire scent, nothing else happened.

After getting a few hours of sleep, I called Bella's house. I needed to tell her what happened. She would probably freak out, and I didn't want that, but it was better than keeping secrets from her. That was the last thing that I wanted to do. Charlie was home and he answered the phone.

"Hey, chief. Is Bella home from school yet?"

"No she isn't. She has to work everyday this week. Do you want me to tell her that you called?"

"Yeah. Can you have her call me back or something?"

"Yup. No problem. I'll have her call."

"Ok. Thanks." I hung up.


	11. Chapter 11

**Bella POV**

When I came home from work, Charlie said that Quil had called. I got a shower and some dinner and called him. "What's up?

"We almost had Victoria. She got away, yet again."

"Were there others with her?"

"Yeah. Riley and the guy with dreads. They are with her sometimes, but not always."

"What happened?"

"I found her. Paul came over right away. Jake and Seth ran over to help. Riley went one way and the other one went another. By the time Jake and Seth got there, she had already gone into the water."

"Quil, what's going to happen if you can't catch her? I mean, how many times has she come now? A lot. And she is still on the loose."

"Bell, we're doing our best."

"Are you sure about that?" I instantly regretted what I said once it came out of my mouth. "Quil, I didn't mean-"

"Bella," he interrupted. "We are doing our best. We can't help that she goes into the water every time she gets cornered. We don't do well in water. Don't you understand that?" he snapped. "I'm just as stressed about this whole thing as you are."

"I didn't mean that, Quil. I swear I didn't. I just want this to be over with already. I'm tired of my life being at risk every single day. And I worry about you guys, too. I don't want you risking your lives for mine."

"You and your safety are my priorities now. So is the pack and the people of La Push. Regardless, even if she wasn't looking for you, we would still be doing this for the people of La Push."

"I understand. But, still, I don't want you to get yourself killed because of me."

"We will get her soon. Jake is going to talk to Sam about getting a new strategy or something. We aren't going to give up on this."

"Alright. Well, I need to go to bed. So I'll talk to you later. I love you. And please be safe tonight."

"I love you too. Do you have exams tomorrow?"

"Yup. Three tomorrow and two on Wednesday. But I get out at 11:15 on Wednesday. I work from 3 until 8 every night this week except Sunday."

"Ok. I'll text you or something this week."

"Alright. Bye."

I went to sleep quickly. Hearing that they weren't going to stop until Victoria was dead was reassuring. I got out of bed and got ready. I ate and went to school. I took my history and math exams in the morning. English was in the afternoon. I left to go home and relax a little bit before having to go to work.

Work passed quickly and I was closing up the store with Mike. We were on better terms now that he had finally accepted that I had a boyfriend and wasn't interested in anything except being friends with him. I drove home and noticed that Charlie was home. I wondered if things had gotten better. Much to my dismay, he was only home early because his boss made him go home for the night. He had been working on this case for two months and staying late almost every night.

I went to bed after eating a quick dinner. I slept dreamlessly. The Spanish and chemistry exams were on Wednesday and they seemed to fly by quickly. When I got home, I ate some lunch and asked Quil if they had anything. He said no and I sighed, unhappy and frustrated.

The rest of the week was filled with just work. I slept in until about eight, which is when Quil would usually call or text me about the previous night's patrol. Things weren't getting any better with the Victoria situation. Sam and Jared had gotten so close at one point, that they thought they were going to get her. Seth had been close, too. I don't think Sam was particularly happy about that and neither was Leah, from what Quil had said. Sam was making Seth stay out of patrolling for her since he was so young. He was placed, strictly, on the inside boundaries of La Push so that there was a lesser chance of getting near Victoria. Not that I could blame him.

Work was busy this week. The weather was nice which meant people were getting prepared for the camping and hiking season. This would continue for the early part of summer. It wasn't only busy with purchases. We also were getting a lot of calls from people asking if we had certain items. People in the store were asking questions about things that were causing employees to become busy. All together, it was just a crazy week. Hopefully, the craziness would die down in the next few weeks.

I was cleaning the floors on Saturday night, thankful that I didn't have to work the next day. I was exhausted from the week. I finished the floors and counted money in the register. I hung up my work vest and left. Mike walked out behind me. I told him that I would see him tomorrow at the graduation ceremony and left.

The next morning was crazy as I was getting ready. I showered and dried my hair. I left my hair down, only running the brush through it. I applied only a small amount of make-up on before getting dressed. I wore a blue dress that stopped just above the knee. I wore heals, praying that I wouldn't fall in them. I grabbed my cap and gown and got into the cruiser to leave. Charlie and I were silent on the ride to the high school.

When we got there, I found Angela and talked to her and Jessica for a while. The principal announced, a while later, that it was time for everyone to line up in alphabetical order so that we could walk into the auditorium. We took our seats and the ceremony began. Jessica's speech was awesome. They started calling people up to get their diplomas. You could always tell where the family and friends of everyone were sitting because you would hear cheers coming from the stands when people were called. My name was announced and I walked up to the stage, taking my diploma. I heard a few cheers and looked to see Charlie sitting with Jake, Quil and Embry. Jake still wasn't thrilled with the whole idea of Quil imprinting on me, but he was getting used to it.

We threw our caps in the air and went to meet our friends and family. I found Charlie with Jake, Quil and Embry. "I'm proud of you, Bella." Charlie said while giving me a hug.

"Thanks, dad." I got hugs from Jake and Embry, too. Quil gave me a hug and a small kiss. Angela found us and we hugged each other, both of us excited to be out of high school and getting ready for college.

Angela looked Embry in the eye. The looks on their faces was one that I recognized immediately. Jake and Quil noticed too. "Angela," I said with a smile. "This is Embry. Embry, this is Angela."

"Hi," Embry held out a hand to Angela.

With a blush on her face, Angela shook his hand. "It's nice to meet you too."

Jake, Quil and I knew that Embry imprinted on Angela. We understood the looks that they had on their faces and the reactions to each other. Charlie muttered something under his breath that sounded like, "Stupid teen-love-at-first-sight crap."

I wanted to say, 'You don't know the half of it,' but I kept my mouth shut. They continued to gaze at each other until I said, "Embry, are you coming to my graduation party tonight?"

"Yeah. I guess we should go now. I'll see you tonight, Bella." His voice seemed distant. They left. Charlie had gone to wait in the cruiser.

Angela turned to me after the guys left. "Oh my gosh, Bella. Why haven't you introduced me to him before?"

"Do you like him?"

"Yeah. He is so cute. And he seems really nice. I'll get to see him tonight, right?"

"Yeah. He will be at the party. Maybe you can talk to him then or something."

"I sure hope so."

I got into the cruiser and Charlie drove off. We went home and I started preparing for the graduation party. I didn't really want it, but Charlie insisted. First I got out of the heels that were killing my feet and were like a death trap for me. I set out plates and silverware and got food set out. Guests started to arrive shortly after.

I spent my time socializing with my friends. Angela kept looking around the house for Embry. When she saw him walk in the door, her face lit up like a kid's on Christmas morning. She went to go talk to him. They grabbed some food and went to talk in a corner that was away from everyone.

"Is she going to find out?" I asked Quil.

"Yeah. She will. He still needs to tell Sam. He was on patrol when we got home and he didn't get to talk to him but he will tonight. Sam will probably do it just like when we showed you. She might not be as accepting as you were though."

"Why?"

"Bella, you weren't surprised at all about," he paused looking for the right words. "What we are because you knew that other…things existed. She doesn't, though. So I have no idea what her reaction will be."

"Oh. I see your point. Should I be there when they tell her?"

"It wouldn't hurt. Then she has someone that she can trust there with her. And she can talk to you since you're her friend and went through the same thing."

"What about the other things? Will she find out about them too?"

"Probably. It's part of this whole thing. If she does accept everything, she'll need to know what's going on and why were are doing everything."

"When will Sam want to talk to her?"

"Well, if Embry talks to Sam tonight, he'll probably want to talk to her as soon as possible. I can call you when I find out."

"Yeah. Can you do that?"

"Sure. I think we got to go. All three of us have patrol tonight."

The three of them left. Angela came up to me, a big smile plastered on her face. "My thinking was correct. He's so sweet and funny and charming and incredibly cute." she gushed.

"Yeah, I know the feeling," I laughed. "Did you get his number?"

"Yes, I did! I gave him mine, too."

"That's great, Ang."

The party started to dwindle down and people started leaving. Angela and Jessica were the last ones to leave. I cleaned up with help from Charlie.

I placed my diploma on my computer desk and got ready for bed. I fell asleep happy that high school was out of the way and that Angela had found someone like Embry. I hoped that she would accept everything that was going to be explained and showed to her.


	12. Chapter 12

Quil called to say that Embry talked to Sam. Sam wanted to explain everything as soon as possible. Angela and I were going to go to Sam's house tomorrow. She was confused when I said that Sam wanted to talk to her. She just wanted to Embry again. She kept telling me that she felt an unexplainable pull towards him. I would just nod and tell her that I had felt that way with Quil. I didn't mention that it was called imprinting. I would leave that to Embry.

I picked Angela up and headed to La Push. She kept asking me why Sam wanted to see her. She hadn't even met Sam. When I told her that Embry would be there, she smiled and stopped asking. We pulled up to the house and walked in. Paul and Embry were in the kitchen eating. Emily had made blueberry muffins, which were a favorite of the wolf pack. I took one and offered one to Angela. She seemed a little uncomfortable and shy. I wasn't sure if that was because it was her personality or because Embry was in the room. She would steal a glance at him and look away quickly. Embry gave her a small smile. She blushed and kept nibbling on her muffin. It was cute to see her act this way.

Paul started laughing and I guessed that it was about them. I gave Embry a knowing look. "Embry, you remember Angela, don't you?"

"Yeah. I remember. Hey."

"Hi," she replied.

Sam came down the stairs and asked Embry if he was ready. Sam introduced himself to Angela and we walked outside. Embry looked to me to start. "Ang, I know that what you are about to see and hear may seem absolutely crazy. Just remember that I'm here and that I went through the same thing with Quil."

"Ummm…ok?"

"Angela, do you know any of the legends of La Push?" Sam asked. She shook her head. "Alright, then. There are legends that we are descended from wolves. That part is true."

"Where is this leading?" she asked.

"Embry," Embry ran to the woods. He came back a minute later in his wolf form.

"Um. Why is there a giant wolf? Where is Embry?" she seemed a little scared

"That _is _Embry." I said.

"It is?"

"Yeah. Descended from wolves, remember?"

"Oh. Ok then. Wow." she looked confused and scared, which I expected. "Why do I need to know this?" Embry had shifted back into his human form and was with us again.

"Do you have this part covered?" Sam asked him.

"Yeah. I got it."

"Ok. Let's go inside, Bella."

Sam and I walked inside the house. Sam gave Emily a kiss goodbye before leaving for patrol. I watched Angela and Embry talking outside through the kitchen window. I wasn't sure what her reaction to everything was. I could only judge by her facial expressions. She looked unsure about everything at first. This worried me a little. I wanted her to accept this, but I wasn't going to force her on anything. Embry wouldn't either.

Paul came up from behind me. He saw what I was looking at and guessed what I was thinking. "Are you afraid that she wont accept it?" he asked.

"Yeah. I also don't want our friendship to be ruined over it."

"Don't worry. She'll be accepting, at least to a point. If she doesn't want to be his lover then he'll be a friend or a brother to her. It'll all work out."

"Thanks, Paul. You're the best big brother ever." I gave him a hug. Paul and I had gotten close. He was like a big over protective brother to me and I was his sweet, innocent little sister. I was closest to him, next to Quil, in the wolf pack. I looked out the window again. Angela had a small smile on her face, which I was happy to see. She looked to be a little less afraid than she had been earlier.

**Embry POV**

Sam and Bella went inside. Angela looked at me waiting for me to explain the next part. I had to think for a few moments to figure out what I was going to say. "Have you felt, like an unexplainable pull or want to be near me all the time?"

"Yeah, actually." she blushed and it was adorable on her.

"There's also another legend. It's about imprinting. What that means is that we're kind of like soul mates. Really, it's more than that. The pull you feel is like a gravitational pull."

"And you imprinted on me." it was more of a statement than a question.

"Yes."

"So, we're soul mates?"

"To put it simply, yes."

"Wow. And I thought it was just love at first sight." she said quietly.

"Basically, but stronger."

"What did Bella mean when she said that she went through the same thing with Quil? Did he imprint on her?"

"Yes. So, if you want to talk to anyone about anything, you can talk to Bella. Sam's fiancée, Emily, too, but I'm sure that you would feel more comfortable talking to Bella."

"Ok. That's good to know, I guess. What does imprinting mean? I mean, other than what you just told me. What does it make us?"

"That's up to you. I can be a lover, a brother, a friend. Whatever you need me to be. I'll support whatever decision you make. I won't force you into anything and I won't be anything that you don't want me to be."

"Can we just be friends for now, at least for a little while? I just need to get my head wrapped around all of this. Maybe I will talk to Bella. I just don't want to rush into anything."

"Ok. That's fine. Whatever you want."

"Is there anything else that I should know about? Any other fairy tales and mythical creatures that I should be aware of?" she had a small smile on her face.

"Yeah, there is actually. Bella might be able to explain this one better than I can. Or Sam. There is one more mythical creature that exists. It's why we exist. Vampires." Angela gasped.

"Vampires exist?"

"Yeah. Bella would probably be better at explaining this one."

"She would?"

"Yeah. She probably knows a lot more about them than I do."

"Oh. I'll ask her. You said that vampires were the reason you guys exist. Why is that?"

"Simple. To protect our tribe and the rest of the people. A vampire's main purpose is to kill. Ours is to protect."

"Have you always been a werewolf?"

"No. I phased in the beginning of April. Quil just phased last week. One thing I will tell you is that we can phase voluntarily or out of anger. If we lose it, for even just a second, we could phase. Did you see Emily's face, how scarred it was?" she nodded. "Long story short, Emily was standing too close to Sam when he got angry. Sam was such a mess after that. He still feels horrible it. So if you notice anyone of us start to get angry or start to shake, make sure you get a safe distance back. I don't want what happened to Emily to happen to you."

"He did that to her?"

"Yeah. Not on purpose, of course. She was just standing a little too close when it happened and she didn't have time to run. He feels so guilty, no matter how much Emily tries to tell him that it isn't her fault. Are there vampires around here?"

"Yes. There are ones that we're trying to catch. Again, Bella can tell you a lot more than I can and give you the full story as to why they are here. The rest of the packa dn I have been trying to catch these three vampires for a while now, but they keep getting past us. They'll jump into the water once we get them cornered. Wolves don't do well in water."

"Could they kill you?" she whispered.

"We are faster and stronger than vampires. You would think that it would be easy to catch and kill them. But these vampires are very good at escaping. A vampire bite is lethal to a werewolf."

"I don't want you to get hurt, Embry."

"One of the other cool things about being a wolf is the super fast healing. If I stabbed myself in the hand, it would hurt and bleed of course, but there would be no need to go to the E.R. because it would heal in a matter of minutes. Plus, if we go to a doctor, they're going to wonder why we aren't dying because of our temperature. A normal hum runs around 98.6. We run around 108."

"Really?" I nodded. "Can I feel?" I extended my hand out to her. She hesitantly took it for a moment and was surprised at the warmth. "You're so warm. Is everyone else this warm?" I nodded again. "How many wolves are there?"

"Sam is the alpha of the pack. Jake is the beta. Then there's me, Quil, Jared, and Paul. Seth and Leah just joined a few days ago. So there are eight of us."

"Have all of them imprinted too?"

"No. I imprinted on you, Quil on Bella, Sam on Emily and Jared on a girl named Kim. Paul, Jake, Seth and Leah are the only ones that haven't. it's supposed to be a rare occurrence, but we think that it's more common than we all thought." we were walking towards the house by now. I think that she had heard enough for one day and I didn't want her to go into shock. Her and Bella hung out for a little while longer before leaving. I gave them both a quick hug and whispered a thanks into Bella's ear.


	13. Chapter 13

**Bella POV**

Angela and I left the house. She was quiet for most of the car ride. She was probably thinking things through and trying to understand things. I would probably have been like that if I were just told that my soul mate was a werewolf. Of course, I wasn't surprised that they exist. I already knew about vampires. Now all we needed were witches and fairies. We could through Bigfoot and the Boogey Man in there, too, just for fun.

"Bella," Angela spoke up. "Embry mentioned something about vampires. He didn't say much, just that they were trying to catch some. He said that you could explain better than he could."

"Yeah. What do you want to know?"

"Why do you know so much about them? He's a wolf. Shouldn't he know more about them than you?"

"Not exactly. I have more experience with vampires."

"What do you mean?"

"I kind of dated one."

"Back in Phoenix?" she looked shocked

"No. In Forks. Edward and his whole family are vampires."

"What? Edward is a vampire? Like drinks blood and sleeps in a coffin and burns in the sunlight, vampire?"

"Not exactly. Those are just made up facts about vampires. They don't burn in the sunlight, they sparkle, like diamonds. As for sleeping, they don't sleep at all. They do drink blood though. They also have the crazy fast speed, superhuman strength, great hearing and eyesight and cold, hard skin."

"Did you know that he was a vampire?"

"Yes. He didn't come out and just tell me. I sort of figured it out by myself."

"How?"

"I never saw him eat or drink anything. He somehow got all the way across the parking lot and prevented the van from crushing me. The first day of school, he was so tensed up in biology and was sitting as far away from me as possible. I knew that he wasn't normal. I also wondered why all of them had the same pale skin and golden eyes if none of them were related, except for Jasper and Rosalie. I came to find out that they aren't actually twins. That was just a cover up story. So I did some research online and got a few books at the library. I found out and told him that I knew."

"So you aren't new to the whole mythical creature world like I am."

"No."

"And you weren't afraid? They could have killed you!"

I chuckled at that. "Ang, they were one of the few covens that don't survive off of human blood. They are strictly on an animal diet. Sure the temptation was there, but Edward could never have even thought about harming me or killing me like that."

She looked at me like I was crazy. "Are you freaking crazy, Bella?"

"I may be."

"Why did he leave? Was it because he's a vampire and you aren't?"

"There are other reasons. That part was just the cause of other things to happen to make him leave. Through a series of events, he decided to leave."

"Series of events? What happened?"

"It all started when I went with his family to play baseball one night…" I told her the whole story. I left out a few of the minor details, like James biting me, because I didn't want to freak her out anymore than she already was. "And now his mate and her friends are trying to kill me. Story of my life."

She looked at me with her mouth open. "Are those the same vampires that Embry and the rest of them are trying to kill?"

"Yes."

"I noticed that you have a scar on your right arm. I happened there? I noticed it before, but I didn't want to ask." she gasped, as if she realized something. "Did Edward bite you?"

"No, no, no. He wouldn't do that. He would give me anything and do anything for me _except _that. Literally. He would have bought me the most expensive car in the world if I let him. Being a vampire that has been around for a time, you tend to save a lot of money over time. They only thing that he wouldn't do was change me into a vampire, no matter how much I wanted it."

"You wanted to be a vampire?"

"At one point, yes. If it meant that we could be together forever, then I wanted it. But the scar came from James. When I was in the ballet studio, he bit me."

"Then shouldn't you be a vampire?"

"Edward sucked the venom out before it could spread and actually start the transformation."

"How did it feel, the venom in your body?"

"It was the worst thing ever. Worse than James breaking my leg or throwing me into the wall. It felt like my body was literally on fire."

"It hurt that bad?"

"Yeah. Edward had told me that you're paralyzed and unconscious for three days because of the pain. The venom wasn't in my system long enough to reach that state. I just started to loose consciousness from the blood loss and I woke up in the hospital."

"Where did they go when they left?"

"I don't know. Edward didn't say anything except that they were leaving and that I wouldn't hear from them again."

"That's horrible, Bella. I'm so sorry. You were so depressed after that."

"Don't be sorry. It's all worth it since I got Quil. You got Embry." I smiled at her. "How did the rest of the talk go with Embry?"

"Good. He answered all of the questions that I had, but he told me to ask you about the vampires since you know way more than he does. I asked if we could just be friends for now so that I could think about things and he was ok with that."

"That's great. You and Embry are good for each other. You guys look cute together, too."

"Thanks. Maybe we will get together at some point. I just don't want things to be rushed between us."

"I understand. Do what's right for you. Don't worry about what Embry thinks because he will support your decision. He'll be whatever you need him to be."

"Thanks, Bella. He said that you would be a good person to talk to about this kind of stuff. Emily, too, but I feel a lot better talking to you."

"Yeah. No problem, anytime."

"How was it like for you? Finding out and everything."

"Honestly, I wasn't that surprised that werewolves existed since I knew about vampires. Quil and I started dating _before _he phased for the first time. Sam was making him break-up with me for my safety. But when I saw Quil for the first time after he phased, he imprinted on me and didn't go through with the break-up. He told me about wolves and imprinting much the same way we showed you today."

"So, you just kind of took the news that easily?"

"Yeah. I knew that vampires existed. So the fact that werewolves existed didn't surprise me that much. It also didn't surprise me that my boyfriend was one, either. Date a vampire, then a werewolf. I just can't get away from the mythical creature world," I laughed. "The imprinting part, though, I wasn't expecting. When Quil said that we were basically soul mates, I was happy, but also a little overwhelmed with everything going on that day. And I was afraid of what Jake's reaction would be. He was pissed off and him and Quil got into a fight."

"Why was he so mad?"

"Jake has basically loved me since we started hanging out again. After Edward left, I had my really depressed period. Then I started hanging out with Jake, Quil and Embry in January. That seemed to heal me. We got really close, but I never felt anything more than a friendship for him because I was still trying to get over Edward. He was just upset when Quil and I started dating, but when he imprinted on me, he was furious. He started blaming Quil, even though it wasn't his fault and saying that if we hadn't dated in the first place, that it wouldn't have happened. Jake phased out of anger and Quil phased to protect me. The fight between them didn't last very long, only about a half hour. Jake and Quil are ok now, but Jake isn't completely cool with it."

"Wow, that must suck."

"It did. I wasn't sure if they could ever get along after this, but after knowing who Victoria is and what she wants, they could at least find one thing in common and that was my protection and killing Victoria."

"Have the wolves killed anyone else? Not vampires, I mean."

"No. they wouldn't kill anyone of human society."

"Good. I was a little worried about that."

We were back at my house by now. Angela was spending the night with me. She only asked me a few more questions about the wolves and vampires and imprinting throughout the rest of the night, but the conversation was sporadic and didn't last very long. We didn't get to bed until about 2 in the morning. I don't know if she was having bad dreams or what, but I would often wake up to her tossing and turning in the bed. The next morning, she looked like she didn't get much sleep.


	14. Chapter 14

"Ang, you don't look like you got much sleep. You kept tossing and turning too. What's up?"

"I just had some dreams about Embry and the wolves last night. And vampires. That's all. I just have a lot on my mind right now, I guess."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No, not right now."

"Ok. That's fine. What do you want to do today?"

"Can we just chill today?"

"Sure. That's cool."

My phone buzzed. I had a text from Quil. _Bonfire tonight? Billy's telling the legends tonight. It might be good for Angela._

"Ang, do you want to go to a bonfire tonight? Jacob's dad is going to tell some of the legends of the tribe. It might help you understand things better."

"Sure." I typed a quick reply back to Quil. Angela and I showered and ate some breakfast. We watched some TV, but when I looked over, Angela was asleep on the couch. She really must not have gotten much sleep last night. I let her sleep for a few hours and woke her up for lunch. We ate and talked about normal teenage girl stuff. She talked a little about her feelings for Embry. She didn't say much, just that they were going to remain friends until she got everything figured out.

At 5:30 we headed to La Push Beach. Quil found me, plates in hand, and gave one to me to get some food and a drink. Everyone ate and had friendly chatter for a while. The Elders showed up and gathered everyone around the fire to start. Angela sat with Embry on a log. They seemed like they were connecting and getting closer, which was good. Quil sat on a log. I sat on the sand in front of him with Paul next to me, resting my back and head on his legs.

Once everyone was gathered and quiet, Billy began with the legends. I didn't know much about the legends and they interested me. He told the legend of the Third Wife and how she saved the village. There was another story about how the werewolves came to be and one about a treaty that was made with a vampire coven. Everyone seemed to know who the coven was because they all shot a glance at me. Unless Embry told her, Angela didn't know about the treaty with the Cullen's. I would probably have to explain that to her later.

Someone was shaking me. Quil. "Bella, wake up. Bella."

"Yeah?" I said sleepily.

"Bella, it's one o' clock in the morning. You fell asleep. Come on, wake up."

"Oh! I'm so sorry I feel asleep. I didn't get much sleep the other night. I felt fine though. I guess it just caught up to me."

"It's ok, Bella. Angela fell asleep too. Embry is waking her up."

I yawned and Quil chuckled. "I need to take her home."

"I know. Sam and Seth are going to be at your house tonight. They're going to follow you to Angela's house and back to your house to make sure you're safe."

"Ok. I'll see you later." I kissed Quil before he left to phase. I saw Embry and Angela talking and then he left.

Sam and Seth phased and waited for Angela and I to leave in the truck. Both of us were still fairly tired on the way to her house. After a few minutes she asked, "Bella, when they talked about the treaty, everyone looked at you. Did you have something to do with that?"

"No I didn't. The coven that they were talking about was the Cullen's."

"Oh. What does the treaty say?"

"It just says that they aren't allowed on Quileute land. If they do then the wolves are allowed to attack them. But the wolves aren't allowed to attack on Cullen land. Another thing that it says is that, since the Cullen's diet is strictly animals only, they can't bite a human."

"And this is all because they were hunting on the Rez?"

"Yes. It's Quileute territory, not Cullen."

"That makes sense, I guess."

"So I noticed that you and Embry are getting closer. I thought you just wanted to be friends for now."

"Yeah. We still are. We're just getting to know each other still. Things seem to be going good so far. I don't know when we'll take the next step in our relationship, but it might come sooner than I thought."

"Just make the right decision for you. Remember, he will be anything you want him to be. So there isn't any pressure for you to be more than what you want to be."

I dropped Angela off at her house and headed for my own. I could see Sam and Seth following me in the woods. One difference between Quil and Edward was that Quil was protective to the point of comfort, not overprotective to the point that it was just annoying and unnecessary.

The light was still on when I got home. I went inside to see that Charlie had fallen asleep on the couch with the lights and TV still on. Thankfully he was asleep. He still wasn't too thrilled with me dating again after everything had happened. He probably would've interrogated me with questions about where I was and who I was with until 1:30 in the morning. I was hoping that he wouldn't do that in the morning, but I wasn't counting on it.

I woke up the next morning with a decent amount of sleep, getting a whole seven hours of sleep. I went downstairs to grab some breakfast. Charlie was sitting at the table drinking his coffee and reading the sports section in the paper. I grabbed a bowl of cereal and joined him at the table. We sat in silence for a few minutes. I would catch him take a glance at me occasionally.

"So Bella, what time did you get home last night?"

"1:30."

"Where were you?"

"Angela and I went to La Push for a bonfire. Billy told some of the tribe legends. Angela and I both fell asleep. The guys woke us up at one and I took Angela home. Then I got home and went to bed."

"You didn't call. You usually do."

"Sorry, Dad. We were listening to Billy tell the stories. I guess I got distracted. I didn't think that we would be out that late."

"Ok. As long as nothing happened."

"What?" _Where is this going? Where is this going? Where is this going? _I feared.

"You know. Stuff."

"Um, Dad. I'm confused."

As long as certain…things don't happen then I'm fine with you being out. What I'm trying to say is that you better not come home high, drunk or pregnant."

_Fabulous. This talk. _"Don't worry about that, Dad. I won't come home either of those three things. You can be sure about that."

"Good. I don't care if I'm your father, I will arrest you if you become drunk or high. As for if you get pregnant, we'll deal with that if we have too."

"I understand. Do you really think that I would do those things?"

"No. You're a good kid, Bella. I'm just reminding you. Be smart and stay safe."

"Ok. Thanks. I'm going to get ready for work now."

"Remember what I said. Glad we had this talk. Tell Quil what I said, too." he shouted to me as I ran upstairs to get a shower.

"Will do." I'm glad that's over. I got in the shower, taking my time. I put on jeans and a t-shirt and threw my dry hair into a ponytail for work. I decided to text Quil of the conversation I just had.

_You'll never believe the conversation I just had with Charlie._

_What was it?_

'_You better not come home high, drunk, or pregnant. Be smart and stay safe. Tell Quil what I said, too.'_

_Oh. That. And how did that go?_

_AWKWARD! Get anything last night?_

_Chased her to the Canadian border last night. I don't know how much longer it's going to be before we get her._

_Ok. Just be careful. I don't know the kinds of things that she's capable of._

_We'll be safe. Have fun at work. I'm going to get some sleep now. I love you._

_Love you too._

I left for work and was happy to get a little bit of normalcy back into my daily routine. With Embry imprinting on Angela and everything that's going on with Victoria, there wasn't much normal in my life. Working would bring at least a little bit of normalcy back.

The weather was a little dreary today. It was pouring down rain thunder would sound. The store wasn't very busy, so it was a pretty boring day there, too. Mike and I played cards for part of the day because there was simply nothing else to do. Mrs. Newton let us go early and I went home.

"Bells, you're home early."

"Yeah. Business was really slow today."

"Someone called. They left a message. I think she said her name was Vicki or something like that. It's by the phone."

"Ok." Vicki. That couldn't be good.

The note was on the counter. It said: _She said that she would be visiting soon. She said something about meeting up for lunch or something._

I didn't like this. I would need to tell Sam and the rest of the pack about this. "Dad, I'm going to La Push."

"Ok."


	15. Chapter 15

I pulled up to Sam's house and ran through the door with the note in my hands. "What's your problem, Bella? You don't look very happy."

"Shut up, Jared."

"Bella?" Sam came from the living room. "What's up?"

"Look at this," I gave him the note and he read over it. "Is this Vicki girl Victoria?"

"It has to be. I don't know anyone named Vicki."

"Ok. Things are going to be tighter now. She just said soon. She didn't give an exact date, so we need to be more alert than ever."

"Sam, how much tighter can things get? We are already so tight with everything." Embry said.

"I know. Did she say anything else, Bella?"

"I don't know. She called while I was gone. Charlie answered the phone and that's what he wrote down. I didn't ask him any questions."

"Embry, call those on guard. Jared, make phone calls. We need to have a meeting now."

It was a mad rush to get people to the house. People were making phone calls and coming in and out of the house. Kim and Emily left to give everyone else more space. We gathered in the kitchen to discuss what would happen.

"Right now, everyone is on 16 hour shifts. Shifts are going to overlap and that gives more security. If we have to, we'll do 24 hour shifts with overlaps. We'll only do it if we have too. Paul, Embry and Quil, you're with me. Jared, Seth and Leah go with Jake. You guys will take the first shift. No fooling around and no getting distracted. This might be the closest chance that we have of getting her."

"Do we know when she's coming?" Jake asked.

"The note just said that it would be soon." I said quietly.

"What about the others? What if they are with her? What happens when we get her?" Paul spoke up.

"Always attack her first. Then go after the other two if they are with her. We don't know what kind of fighting skills she has or what kind of experience she has with werewolves other than what she has with us. But we do know that she is a genius when it comes to escaping. Never take your eyes off of her. If you get her, howl for the signal and attack I have already talked to the elders and they said that she is our number one priority right now. No screwing around on patrol. Always stay alert. After your patrol, you go straight home, eat and sleep. You only have eight hours between shifts so no going out and stuff."

"What about the girls? Kim, Ang, Em, and Bella have to be protected."

"Bella," Sam said. "Do you think that Charlie would mind you staying here for a while?"

"No. I'll have to talk to him. I'm sure that he would be fine with it as long as I say that I'm with Emily."

"What about Angela?" Embry asked, concern lacing his voice.

"I'll talk to her. I don't think that her parents would mind if she is with me."

"Ok. Then all of the girls will stay here. There will be one person patrolling the house and surrounding area at all times. I don't want you girls to leave the house for any reason at all. Not without one of us with you. Bella, why don't you go call Angela and tell her what's going on right now. Call your dad, too. Just make up some story that you think he will believe."

I called Angela to tell her what was going on. Her parents were going to let her stay with me and girls. For Charlie, I told him that Emily had just gotten surgery. I told him that Sam wasn't able to care for her because of his hectic work schedule and so I would be helping her out. He allowed me to stay for as long as she needed me.

"Ok. Charlie agreed and so did Angela's parents. I told Charlie that Emily needed my help after just getting surgery."

"Ok. Quil, you take Bella home to get some clothes and stuff. And pick up Angela. Come straight back here. Jake, your group needs to go."

Quil and I got into the car, heading for my house first. We were silent for the most part. When we got to my house, he helped me pack a bag with a few days worth of clothes and toiletries in it.

"Quil," I said as we were getting ready to leave the house. Charlie had already left for the station. "How much longer is this going to take?"

"I don't know, Bella. We don't even know exactly when she is coming." I sighed. "What's wrong, Bella?"

"Why is it always me? Why am I always the one that has to have their life threatened by the supernatural world?"

"Bella, don't think like that."

"How can I not think like that? It's true. There was the time with James, then Jasper. Sam wanted you to break up with me so that you couldn't hurt me. And now Victoria is after me and I am so sick of it!" Tears were streaming down my face. "I'm sick of my life being in such danger!"

"Bella, baby, come here." I went to him. He wiped the tears away from my face and gave me a small kiss. "Your life is more important to me than anything. I will protect you with everything I have," he said in a stern voice. "Nothing is going to happen to you. I would die before I let anything happen to you."

"That's the other thing. You guys are out risking your lives for me. I don't want anything to happen to any of you. Do you realize that you could die?"

"We're faster ad stronger than her. We will make it out just fine."

"Quil, sometimes I think you are too confident in the pack. Shouldn't you guys have already had her by now then?"

"Yes, we are faster and stronger than her, but we can't predict when she comes and goes. And she appears and disappears sporadically and from out of nowhere. We can't get her in a situation that she is able to be caught. She keeps leading is to the water and we can't swim."

"Can't you lead her somewhere else? Away from the water so that she can't keep trying to use it as an escape route."

"We follow her. We can't really lead her anywhere."

"I just don't want anyone getting hurt or worse. And I just want her to be dead and for this to be over with."

"I know. Me too. Come on. We need to pick up Angela and get back to Sam's."

We picked Angela up at her house. When we got back to Sam's, Quil went home to sleep before his shift. Emily and Kim were at the house making dinner. We ate and decided to do things that would keep our minds away from the guys and what they were doing. They were just as worried as I was about what was going on with Victoria.

"How are you holding up, Bella?" Emily asked me as we were getting ready for bed. She pulled a blanket out of the closet and handed it to me.

"Ok, I guess. I just want this whole thing over with. I don't want them to get hurt either."

"I understand. None of want them to get hurt. But they are going to do anything that they can to come home safe and get her killed."

"Do you think that it will be soon?"

"Well, I cant predict the future, but, I hope so. The sooner this is over with, the faster everyone can relax and get move on with their lives."

"When are you and Sam getting married?"

"We haven't set a date yet. We aren't really sure. It definitely won't be until after this whole Victoria thing is over, that's for sure. How are Angela and Embry?"

"Still just friends as far as I know. They're talking, though. I think she's still trying to figure things out. She's been asking me a lot of questions."

"They look cute together. She'll come around soon enough. I was the same way. Plus, I felt really bad for Leah in the beginning. I didn't want something to be ruined between us, but it was anyway. Leah changed a lot after it happened."

"She did?"

"Yeah. You probably would think that she has been this way all her life. but really, she was so nice before. Then the imprint happened and she turned bitter towards everyone. Towards life. The only people she isn't bitter towards are her parents and Seth. Sam had wanted to explain things to her so badly, but he knew that he couldn't unless she phased. He didn't think that he would ever be able to until she did.

"After he explained it to her, she still wasn't happy about it. She blamed it on the 'stupid werewolf crap' and was even angrier about it. She hates being a wolf. She hates it even more that she has to be a part of Sam's pack and listen to his thoughts."

"Wow. That must suck."

"I can only imagine. I'm lucky that I am getting her as a bridesmaid. I just hope that she finds somebody."


	16. Chapter 16

**Quil POV**

I woke up to start my shift. I was on full alert, my only focus was killing Victoria. The past few months had been stressful on the pack because of her. Bella was stressed out too, and I hated seeing her like that. She didn't need to have our stress on her shoulders.

I caught a semi fresh trail from Victoria. It must have been from the other night. I continued running around he area to make sure it wasn't completely fresh and went back on track.

A few hours passed. There was little communication between the pack. We were all so focused on what we were doing that we didn't want to lose it by talking to each other. So when Embry spoke, we all listened, in case it had something to do with Victoria.

_Guys, fresh track. But it isn't her._

_Could it be one of the other two? _Paul asked.

_I don't think so. This isn't something I recognize._

_Ok. Follow it and we'll meet you there. _Sam ordered.

We meet Embry at the treaty line where we saw seven vampires standing. I recognized one of them as Edward. The rest of them must be his family. One, a man with short blonde hair, stepped out from the group. He must be the leader.

"Edward, will you translate?" he asked. He nodded. "Hello, wolves. We're the Cullen's. My name is Carlisle. It's to my understanding that Bella Swan is in LaPush."

_Yes. Why do you want to know?_

Edward repeated what Sam said. "This is Edward. Bella and her dated for a while before my family left. He wants her back."

I growled. The others followed and the leeches looked at us, shocked.

"What's your problem?" Edward asked.

_You're not getting my girlfriend._

"Girlfriend?"

_Or imprint I should say._

"What?"

_Yup. So you can't have her._

He looked like he was about to rip my head off. A big, dark haired one had to grab him and hold him back.

"Edward, what's wrong?" A short, pixie-like girl asked.

"The wolf imprinted on her." Carlisle looked shocked. The one with caramel hair looked happy. The big one started laughing loudly and a blonde female smacked him on the back of the head. The pixie and another blonde male looked confused, as if they didn't know what imprinting was. Edward was just pissed. Almost like Jake was, but I don't think he was as pissed as Edward is.

"Imprinted? What is that?"

"They're freaking soul mates, but stronger."

"Oh."

"I want her back."

_No._

"Edward, let it go." the blonde girl said.

"No, Rosalie. I'm not going to let it go."

"Dude, she isn't with you anymore. She's with him. Just let it go. You had your chance and you blew it." the dark haired one said.

"She is supposed to be with me." Edward said through clenched teeth.

_You blew it. You had your chance with her. Now it's my turn. I imprinted. It probably would have happened at some point. And do you really think that she would go right back to you anyway? After what you put her through and the depression she went through? Do you know how much weight and sleep she lost and how hard it was to get her even close to getting back to normal? You screwed her life up! She hates you. You couldn't make her happy because you were too worried about her doing anything as small as scraping her knee up. She's human. She's a bit klutzy, too. You couldn't let her do anything or go anywhere without being with her or making sure she was ok every five minutes. You wouldn't even let her sleep in her own house by herself! And by being with you she was put in danger at least twice. Three times really. First with the leech in the baseball field. Then with the paper cut. And now again with the other leech hunting her!_

"What? Who's hunting her?"

_Victoria._

"Who is it, Edward?" Pixie asked. What was her name? Alison? No. Alice? Yeah, Alice.

Edward ran off. None of us knew where he went. Alice seemed like she was trying to concentrate on something. "Where is he going, Alice?"

"I don't know, Jasper. It was a last minute decision."

"Can you see if he's coming back?"

"No. I don't think he is. I think he's going to find whoever is hunting Bella. I can't see who that is, though."

_So she can see the future? _Embry asked.

_Guess so. _Sam said.

Carlisle said, "Would you guys mind phasing back into your human form? We mean you no harm. Without Edward here, we cannot communicate with you." Sam nodded. We went behind a tree to phase. When we came out the vampires were waiting for us. "Who is hunting Bella?"

"Victoria. Red-headed leech." I said.

The entire coven froze. "How long has this been going on?" Jasper spoke up first.

"A few months. She keeps coming and going. Sometimes she has friends. We've been trying to kill her, but she keeps going and coming at different times or escaping into the water. We almost had her a few times."

Carlisle stood there for a few minutes. He seemed to be thinking hard about something. "Sam, would you be willing to let us help in the hunt for her?"

"I don't know. It really isn't my decision. It's the Elders decision. I'll have to talk to them."

"Would you do that? We could help out a lot. I'm sure the past few months have been stressful for the pack."

"You got that right." I muttered.

"Yes. I will have a meeting with them this week. I don't know what they will say though."

"That's alright. It wouldn't hurt to try. What do her other friends look like?"

"One of them is Riley Biers. He has been in the news lately on a missing persons report. The other guy has dreads. I think his name is Laurent or something like that." I said.

"Isn't he the one that was in the baseball field too?" Emmett asked.

"Yes, he was."

"I thought he was with the Denalis in Alaska."

"I guess not. I wonder why he would be with Victoria again though. And I have no idea about Riley. When would you like to meet with the Elders, Sam?"

"As soon as possible. I'm not making any promises that they will let you help, though. They know who your family is and that you are the vampires that formed the treaty with our great-grandfathers."

"Yes. That is understandable. Can we meet back here in a few days to see what's going on?"

"Yeah. I'll have that meeting set up as soon as possible."

"Thank you. We will go now and see you in a few days."

The Cullens left. Our shift was almost over so we phased and started running back to Sam's house. All four of us kept playing the whole scene over and over again.

_Quil, what do you think of all this? Do you think they should help? _Sam asked.

_No. I don't want them near her. I know the kind of pain that they caused her._

_I think that it would be good if they helped. _Paul said.

_Why?_

_Well, they are vampires and Victoria is a vampire. They know a lot more about their own kind than we do._

_Good point. Embry?_

_No. Who knows what they could do. For all we know, they could be working with her just to get to Bella. What about you, Sam?_

_I vote no. They are vampires. They are supposed to be our natural enemies. We can't trust them._

_I agree with Sam. _I said. Embry agreed.

_Guys, I know that they are our enemies and all, but they could really help us. I love Bella. She is like a little sister to me. But t__hey are vampires, just like Victoria, Laurent and Riley. More people would be protecting Bella and the other girls too. Maybe they will leave and never come back after Victoria is dead. You at least got to give them a chance. _Paul said.

_I still say no._

**A/N: Oh my goodness! I'm sorry it took so long to update! I had a paper for school that I had to write and then I was having some computer problems. So so so sorry!**

**I hadn't planned on bringing the Cullens back in this one. You'll just have to see how things plan out. I don't even know yet because I haven't thought that far ahead yet. Hoped you liked the chapter! R&R :)**


	17. Chapter 17

I woke up the next morning to the smell of waffles. Emily and Kim were in the kitchen making breakfast. I yawned as I walked in. "Good morning." I said.

"Morning, Bella." Kim and Emily said at the same time. "Did you sleep well?" Emily asked.

"Yes I did. Is Angela still asleep?"

"Yeah."

"Good." they both gave me a questioning look. "She hasn't been sleeping well lately, I don't think."

"Oh." Kim said. "Waffles?"

"Sure. Thanks." The three of us finished eating before Angela walked in.

"Something smells good."

"Waffles. Want some? Emily and Kim made them."

"Sounds great."

"Have you heard anything from the guys?"

"No," Kim said. "Jake's group should be getting off soon, though."

Everyone showered and got ready for the day. By the time the last person walked out of the bathroom, Jake and Jared were at the house. Leah and Seth had already gone home.

"Hey, Bella."

"Hi, Jake. How did it go?"

"Same as all the other nights. Still a vampire on the loose. Did you have a good night with the girls?"

"Yeah. It was fun."

"That's good. Get your mind off of things."

"Yeah. It did a little."

Things were still weird with Jake. I don't think he was quite over the fact that Quil had imprinted on me, but I think he was trying. That made things like normal conversations or hanging out awkward. Emily or someone would usually step in once they saw it.

"Jake, Jared, do you guys want some waffles? We made plenty. There are extra since Seth and Leah didn't come."

"Yeah. Thanks, Em." Jake said as she handed him a plate. Jared already had his plate full and was shoving it in his mouth.

I gave her a look to say thanks and she replied with a smile. After eating, Jake went home to get some rest. Jared said good-bye to Kim and left as well. Angela, Kim and I helped Emily clean up the kitchen and the rest of the house.

Sam, Paul, Quil and Embry walked in the house a few hours later. The four of them were arguing about something. The four of us looked at each other in confusion and listened to them argue in the kitchen from the couch.

"No." I heard Sam say.

"But they could help." Paul said.

"No!" Quil and Embry shouted at him.

"They might know more about her than we do."

"I don't care. I'm not letting them get near her." Quil said.

"But don't they have a future-seeing girl or something like that? That would help us a lot, you know."

"I don't care, Paul. I'm not letting them get near her."

When Paul said future-seeing girl, I knew exactly who they were talking about. "What?" I screamed and ran into the kitchen. "What did you just say?" They all looked at each other before Quil stepped in.

"We had a slight encounter with the Cullen's today."

"What do you mean by slight encounter?"

"They were at the treaty line. Edward wants you back. When I told him that you imprinted he got angry. We told them who was hunting you. When we said that it was Victoria, he ran off. We don't know where to or if he will come back. The Cullens offered to help find Victoria."

"What did you tell them?"

"That we would have to talk to the Elders. It's their choice. Sam can't do anything about it. But all of us, excluding Paul say no. What do you think, Bella?"

"No. I don't want them around me after what they did. Even if it means more protection and a better chance at catching her. Why did Edward leave?"

"Don't know. They asked who was hunting you. Edward was translating for us before he ran off. After he heard that it was her, he just took off. Alice couldn't see why. She said that it might be to find her, but she isn't sure what his intentions are."

The fact that the Cullens came back shocked me. I should be happy. I had wanted Edward to come back so badley in the beginning. But now, I am just angry. I am angry that he left me like that. I am angry that the rest of them could just leave without even a good-bye or explination. I had always thought of them as a second family. Now, I don't consider them anything. Not even Alice and I think that she was the next one that I had missed the most, next to Edward.

"Well, Alice's visions aren't certain anyway. They can change. I would prefer that they didn't help if that influence's the Elders decision."

"Alright," Sam said. "I will go set up that meeting now." He walked out the door, phasing on the fly and headed out to meet the Elders after he called them to set up the meeting at the Clearwater's house.

Embry and decided to take Angela and Emily to the store so Quil and I could have some alone time. Jared came to pick up Kim and they went out too.

"Who else knows about what happened today?" I asked Quil.

"Just us. Unless someone told Jake, Seth and Leah. Kim told Jared when she asked him to pick her up."

"What will happedn if the Elders allow them to help?"

"I don't know, Bella. I guess it will just depend on what they say. I don't know if they will give Sam any say in what happens."

Sam walked in. He had been gone for about an hour. He looked somewhat relieved but he also looked a bit angry. "The Elders said to give them a chance. They can only interfere if she is on their land."

"Ok," I said. "What happens if they interfere not on their land?"

"If they come onto our land, then the treaty laws apply. If they are not on our land, then it's my decision. I was going to go meet them at the treaty line now if you want to go, Quil."

"No. I'll stay with here with Bella until the others get back."

"No, Quil. I want to go." I said. Quil and Sam both looked at me like I was crazy.

"Bella, I don't think that's such a good idea."

"Quil, I want to go. You know that I'm not going to go back to them. Everything will be fine." I walked out the door and into Sam's car. The boys hadn't followed me and it looked like they were having an argument in the kitchen. After a few minutes they walked out. Sam started driving to the treaty line. The car ride was silent. No one spoke a word.

When we got to the line, I saw the Cullens sitting or standing with their mates. Alice was under Jasper's arms. Emmett and Rosalie were sitting on the back of the Jeep. Carlisle and Esme seemed to be having a discussion. They all looked up when they heard the car arrive. The boys and I got out of the car. I grabbed Quil's hand and started making my way towards where Sam was standing. The Cullens seemed both happy and surprised when they saw me.

"Sam. Quil," Carlisle paused briefly. "Bella. It's good to see you again." I didn't even nod my head in response. "What did the Elders say?"

Sam said, "You can only help when she is on your land. If you come onto our land, the treaty policy remains. If you try to interfere with us and it isn't on your land, then it is my decision in what happens."

"Understandable. I hope that we can all work this problem out."

"So do we."

"Very well then. We will go now." They started to walk away. Alice whispered something in Carlisle's ear and he nodded.

"Hi, Bella," she said to me.

"Hi, Alice." I said and turned away.

"Oh, Bella, before you go, I've missed you a lot. I know that you are with Quil now, but would you want to go shopping or something soon? Like we used too."

"No thanks."

"What? But I thought we were best friends."

I made a small chuckle. I turned around. "Alice, best friends don't torture each other."

"What do you mean?"

"I hate shopping and you know it. You forced me to go so that you could play Bella Barbie on me."

"Bella, I'm sorry. I...I didn't realize-"

"Shut up, Alice. No matter how many times I tried to tell you no, you still made me go. Edward was an overprotective fool. Rosalie was just a bitch to me all the time. I never really understood why. I'm am done. I am with Quil now and nothing is going to stop that. I'm not going to go back to Edward or any of you guys. I am done. Once Victoria is dead, I want you guys out of here and as far away from me as possible." Everyone of the Cullens seemed to be surprised at my out burst. Quil and Sam seemed to be impressed. I stormed off to the car. Quil followed and got in the drivers seat. Sam took off in a run. The Cullens left. Quil and I sat there for a moment until I cooled off enough to tell him to leave back to Sam's place.

When we got back, Jared and Kim were back with Paul and Emily. I was still trying to cool off some more when we walked in. Everyone asked what had happened. I guess Sam told them of my outburst. I heard Quil mutter something to Paul along the lines of "I think she's been hanging around you and your hot head for too long." He laughed and agreed.


	18. Chapter 18

I spent the next week and a half trying to get over the fact that the Cullens were helping the wolves catch Victoria. Nothing had changed. She wasn't seen and we hadn't heard anything from Edward. Alice was trying to see what he was doing, but that was unsuccessfull. Really, we just wanted to know wether him running off was good or bad. I didn't have much communication with the Cullens; I heard everything through the wolves. I only saw them one other time after the first encounter. Alice was still trying to talk to me, but I wasn't going to listen unless it had something to do with chasing Victoria.

Paul walked into the house. Emily and I were in the kitchen making lunch for everyone. Angela and Kim were sitting at the bar helping. "Hey guys," Paul said as he grabbed some food from the table.

"Hey, Paul. Where is everyone else at?" I said.

"At the line. One of the Cullens called and said that Alice was seeing things that might help."

"Then why are you here? Shouldn't you be with them?"

"Sam wanted me here with you guys. Em, can I use your shower?"

"Yeah. You know where everything is at." she replied. After he went upstairs, we continued our conversation from earlier.

"So Ang, how are things with you and Embry?" Kim asked.

"Good. I mean, our relationship is improving. I don't know if we will date in the near future exactly. With everything going on, I don't know what will happen. But, it's getting better. I guess I'm starting to get used to the whole him being a wolf and him imprinting on me thing."

"That's good." I said.

"Kim, how was it like for you when Jared imprinted?"

"Well, I had already had a huge crush on him," she said reminiscing. "I sat a few seats behind him my math class. I was always hoping there would be the day that he would ask me out or even talk to me. After he'd been out of school for a few days and came back, I noticed that he changed. We had math first period and we were the first two in the class at the time, so he asked me if he could borrow my notes to copy that he'd missed. He imprinted then.

I couldn't describe anything that I was feeling, like the need to be with him all the time. He explained everything a few days later. I was amazed that the supernatural world actually exsisted. I wasn't at all hesitant. I thought, since I had a crush on him before and then he imprinted on me, that we were always meant to be together."

"That's sweet," Angela said. "What about you, Emily?"

I could see the look on Emily's face saying that she really didn't want to answer that question. She looked pained. "Uh, that's a very complicated story that I would rather not get into." she said, honestly. The whole Sam, Emily, Leah imprinting thing was very complicated and also one thing that led up to her scar.

"Oh. That's alright."

The rest of the pack came in looking somewhat happy.

"You look happy," I said to Quil.

"Mhm." he kissed me.

"Where is Paul?" Sam asked.

"Right here," Paul came from upstairs.

"Ok. Good news. Laurent is dead. Leah and Jared got him while he was hunting. So that takes care of one of them." that was a releif. "We still don't know exactly where Victoria is, but Alice is having visions of her coming in the next couple of days." that was not. "Once we get more details, we'll meet again. Bad news though, Alice keeps getting visions of her and Riley going to the same location and waiting for something or someone. We aren't sure, but we think that she may be working with someone else."

"Do you know who it could be?" I asked.

"No. Somebody that knows Victoria and probably knows Alice, too. She said that it was like they were playing with her blind spots or something like that. We'll have to be on the lookout for anything that may not seem normal. We don't know exactly what day she's coming yet, just in a few days, assuming she doesn't change her mind."

"What happens if she does come?"

"Everything goes as planned. Kill her and anyone else with her no matter what. Once this stuff is done things should calm down, at least for a little while."

Everyone went their separate ways. Quil and I decided to go to a movie and chilled on First Beach for a while. We hadn't really been out for a while. Everything going on with Victoria wasn't really allowing anyone any alone time or time with their imprints.

"What's going to happen after Victoria is dead?" I asked quietly as we were sitting on a rock on the beach.

He made a small sigh. "I don't know. I'm not sure how normal things will be. I guess we'll just have to see."

"Will things ever be nornal anymore?"

He chuckled. "In our world, I guess not. I guess this is our new normal."

"What will happen once Victoria is dead and the Cullens are gone? Will you guys still have to be on such a heavy patrol schedule?"

"No. The schedule gets changed as needed. I'm sure that it will stay at least a little the same until Sam thinks that it's ok to change again. Then shifts won't be as long and heavy and we'll have more time together."

"What about when school starts? I'll be 3 hours away if you take the short way. 4 if you go the long way."

"I'm sure that everything will work out, Bella. We can see each other on the weekends. And it isn't like I can't run to visit you in just an hour and a half or so. And we can talk on the phone every night if you want."

"Hm. I guess I forgot about the whole wolf speed thing."

"But don't worry about that right now. You still have a few months."

**A/N: I don't know if anyone looks at an author's profile, but I p****osted a new announcement that I was hoping to have this story and my other one done by the end of summer. With that, I have two more stories that I have begun gathering details for and pre-writing some parts. I need title suggestions. The couples are going to be Paul and Bella, and an all human Edward and Bella. I'm taking suggestions for titles. So just PM me if you have any and I will take it into consideration. :)**


	19. Chapter 19

**Quil POV**

Sam called me saying that Carlisle called with some news. I drove Bella back to Emily and Sam's house and ran to the treaty line. I was hoping that there would be good news, but also knowing that there was the possibility of bad news. I phased back and slipped my shorts on in the woods.

When I walked out from the trees, the rest of the pack was there, minus Seth. He was probably patroling around the house. All of the Cullens, minus Edward, were on the other side of the line.

"So what happened?" I asked.

Carlisle said, "Emmett and Rosalie caught Victoria's scent in the woods last night. They followed the scent until it disappeared a few miles south of Forks."

"So where do we go from here?"

"She's getting closer. With Laurent dead, that should make things a little easier. Although, we still think she's working with someone other than Riley."

"And you don't have any clue at all of who that could be?"

"They must know Alice. She still can't see them. Though we think Edward may be linked to her in some way, maybe to get Bella back. That doesn't seem like something that he would do, but it's the only logical thing that we could think of."

"But if he was that desparate to get her back, then maybe he could be. Or if he's so angry at Quil for the imprinting, then maybe he wants one of them dead. He ran off right after we told him who was hunting her," Paul said.

"He has a point, Carlisle." Jasper said.

"I see your point. I guess we'll just have to see what happens." Carlisle responded.

"What happens though, if Edward is working with her? Do we let him go or kill him?" Rosalie asked.

Carlisle looked torn with the question. "I guess we just have to see what he is planning first, that is, if he is the one working with Victoria."

"He's going to be able to see our every move before we make it." Alice whispered.

"Yes, that's something that we will have to be careful with. Try to block your thoughts. But we don't know if it is him. That's only a reasonable guess right now."

"Ok. So we need to be watching for Victoria, Riley and Edward now." Sam said.

"Yes. We will keep watching them and trying to contact Edward."

We left. Somehow, I had to tell Bella that there was a possibility that Edward was working with Victoria. I went on patrol and thought of how I was going to tell her this. Everyone on patrol was pretty quite and I was glad about that. It gave me more room to think. I thought about how to tell her and what her reaction could be. I didn't like it.

Bella was asleep when I got back to the house, so I decided to wait until the morning to tell her. I figured sooner was better than later. I went home. Mom asked about how things were going and I told her about what we thought about Edward.

"You really think that he's working with Victoria?" she asked.

"Yeah. Or, at least it is the only thing that we can think of. And they must know Alice if they are getting around her visions. He ran off right when he found out that we were trying to get Victoria since she was chasing Bella. It makes sense."

"Yeah it does. Have you told Bella yet?"

"No. She was asleep when I went to the house. I will in the morning."

"The girls are still staying at Emily and Sam's right?"

"Yes. But there getting tired of not really being able to get out. They're pretty much stuck inside all day. We're trying to get them out as much as possible."

"You know, I think that it would be nice if you took her out to a nice restaurant or something, just the two of you, after everything is over with. Then you guys can catch up and spend some time alone together without anything worrisome hanging over your heads. And maybe the rest of the guys and their imprints could do something too, but I think that would be really good for you and Bella."

"Yeah. I think it would be too. We haven't hung out much lately. We haven't had time to really do anything. I'm going to bed. Night."

"Good night, Quil."

I woke up the next morning, a little bit nervous. I didn't know exactly how Bella would react to me telling her that Edward could be on Victoria's side, although I had a good idea. I took a shower and ate some cereal. I went to the house and asked Bella if she wanted to take a walk. We walked through the woods for a little bit. Not many words were spoken. I didn't know how to tell her and she was probably waiting on me to say something first.

"Quil, what's up? Is something wrong?"

"Bella, I'm just going to be honest with you. We think, but we aren't sure, that Edward could be working with Victoria."

"What?" she looked at me like I was crazy. "Why him?"

"Think about it, Bella. They are playing with Alice's blind spots. He ran off when we told him who was searching for you. We don't have any clue at where he is at. We can't get a hold of his at all. He wants you bac-"

"Stop." she inturrupted. "Are you sure that it's him?"

"No. But it's the only thing that us and the Cullen's could think of. At least in a logical way of thinking."

Bella sat on a rock and buried her face in her hands. "Why would he want to work with her?" she asked, looking up at me. "He hates her."

"Well, he wants you and she is trying to get you. That's one reason."

"But she wants me dead. And she isn't going to stop until I am dead. Does he not realize that? Unless he wants me dead too. But why would he if he came back for me?"

"I don't know," I sat beside her. "We thought that he might be angry about the imprint thing. Maybe he wants one of us dead so that the other one has to feel the pain that he feels."

"I hate him. I can't believe that I had actually loved him at one point. I can't believe that I wanted to be one of his kind! I should have ran when he told me too. I hate him. I'm done with vampires. I want them all to just fall off the face of the earth."

"Bella, we aren't sure if it is him. We are just taking a good guess right now."

"I don't care. Vampires have done nothing good for me. All that they have caused is pain and put me in danger. I hate them." she kept going on, pacing the ground until I stopped her.

"Bells," I said, taking her shoulders to make her stop pacing. "We will get everything sorted out. With Victoria, Edward. Everything. Then the rest of the Cullens will be gone and you won't have to worry about anymore vampires for a while. There is nothing that _you _need to worry about. We will take care of everything. Now, once everything is over with, you and I are going to go out to eat and do something alone. Just the two of us. Then we can go out without having to worry about anything going on. I promise that everything will be done soon. I don't know exactly how soon, but soon."

"I love you." she wrapped her arms around my waist and buried her face in my chest.

"I love you, too. Let's go back to Emily's."


	20. Chapter 20

**Bella POV**

Quil had to leave for patrol as soon as we got back to Emily and Sam's house. Wanting to be alone, I skipped out on lunch and went upstairs into one of the spare bedrooms, locking the door. It was as alone as I could be for the time being.

What Quil had told me today about Edward was shocking and a bit confusing. I almost didn't believe any of it- that it was just something the pack was making up so that they could tell me _something. _But a small part of me knew that it could be true. What was confusing was the fact that Edward had made it clear that I shouldn't be with him. And he wants me back now. He was the one always saying that I would be better off with anyone that wasn't him- it would be 'healthier' as he once said.

But it didn't matter now. I was with Quil and that wasn't going to change. I didn't care if Edward tried to make me come back to him with his messy bronze hair or golden eyes that I had once lost my train of thought in. I didn't care if he used his crooked smile that I once loved. I didn't care if he was working with Victoria even. I was not going back to him. Things weren't going to change. If you asked me a few months ago, I would've said that I would gladly go back to him. Not anymore.

I fell asleep. I had multiple dreams that ran together. They all involved Edward and Victoria working together and the pack trying to fight them off. I was startled awake with the image of Edward attacking Quil. I shot up in bed, gasping for air because of the dream. I looked at the clock on the bedside table. 3:45. Had I really just slept for three and a half hours?

I went downstairs. Emily and Angela were watching TV in the living room. Kim was nowhere to be found.

"Hey, Bella." Emily said when she saw me. "There is some lunch meat in the fridge if you're hungry."

I was kind of hungry. I went into the kitchen and made myself a late lunch of a turkey sandwich and some chips. "Where did Kim go?" I asked as I went into the living room.

"Jared picked her up. She'll be back before he has to go on patrol again." Angela replied.

I sat on the floor watching TV while I ate my food. Nobody really said anything, just the occasional chuckle from one of us as we watched a sort of funny show. I threw my paper plate away after I was finished.

Sitting on the floor again, I looked for something to do. There wasn't much. Not much that we hadn't done already. I was really getting tired of being here all day, everyday. How many days had I been here? I lost count. I wanted to sleep in my own bed again. I wondered how Charlie was surviving without my cooking. When was this going to be over? I hoped it was soon.

Kim came back before Jared's group went out. It looked like she'd had a good time with Jared. I couldn't help but feel a little jealous of her. She got to spend some time with Jared alone. Quil and I didn't get out much alone anymore. Not lately. He's been too busy with this whole Victoria mess. He had tried to take me out a few times after his patrol shift, but I usually declined, telling him that he needed to get his sleep. He would usually sigh, kiss me and turn to go home. I felt bad for doing it, but he needed his sleep. I didn't want him to be hunting Victoria- and now possibly Edward- with a lack of sleep.

The phone rang. Emily got up to answer it in the kitchen. I could hear her talking on the phone. She sounded a bit alarmed. I had no idea who she was talking to or what they were talking about. She hung up and ran upstairs, yelling for Sam to wake up. "Sam! Wake up! It's important!" she shouted. Angela, Kim and I looked at each other in panic.

My mind started going through the worst case scenario. Victoria came. Someone was hurt. Or even worse. I knew that it was a good possibility. It would happen sooner or later. I sat down on the couch before I could pass out from panic.

Sam ran down telling Emily to call Paul to cover for Jake. He ran outside and phased before he even hit the woods. Emily called Paul but I didn't catch any of the conversation.

"What's going on, Em?" I asked. "Did Victoria come? Is someone hurt?"

"No. Victoria didn't come and no one is hurt. We just had two more phase."

"Who?" Kim asked.

"The twins, Colin and Brady." Emily looked sad about this.

"Oh," Kim looked sad, too. "But they're so young."

"I know. They're younger than Seth. There was no sign of them phasing. It just kind of exploded, like it did for Quil and Jake. Sam and Jake are going over right now. That was their mom on the phone. She thought the fever was just a bug that they got from their cousin a few days ago, so she didn't worry about it."

"I thought there weren't supposed to be any more people phasing." I said.

"That's what we thought too. People will probably keep phasing until the vampire problem is taken care of. They keep getting younger, too. We didn't think that we they could be any younger than Seth. I don't know what Sam is going to do; he won't want them to be out trying to hunt for Victoria since they are so young. Jenny said that they were freaking out, from the looks of it."

"How old are they?" Angela asked.

"Seth is fifteen. Colin and Brady just turned fourteen." Kim said.

"Wow. They are young." she whispered.

"Yes. Sam and Jake are going to try to calm them down enough to phase back and bring them back here to explain everything." Emily said and started towards the kitchen.

Jake walked in with two boys a few hours later. I assumed they were Colin and Brady. Sam was out telling the rest of the pack what happened.

The boys sat at the table and each took a muffin from the bowl. Jake started to explain to them everything that happened and why things were that way. One of them, who I learned was Colin, thought that it was kind of cool that this could be happening. He reminded me of Seth in that way. Brady didn't seem so enthusiastic about it. He was still kind of freaked by the looks of it. When Jake told them about vampires, Brady got even more freaked and so did Colin.

"Wait. You mean vampires that sleep in coffins and drink your blood and burn in the sunlight vampires?" Colin asked. I laughed a little at the myths.

Jake laughed a little too. "Bella, do you want to explain this one?"

"Sure," I said as I sat at the table with the twins. "Yes, vampires that drink blood. But they don't sleep in coffins; they don't sleep at all. And they don't burn in the sunlight. It doesn't hurt them."

"Garlic?" Brady asked.

"They're all myths. Except for the drinking blood part."

"Well that's cheap." he looked disappointed. "Wait. How do you know all this stuff? Are you a vampire?"

"No, I'm not. I only dated one. That's why I know so much."

"Oh." they both said.

Sam came in. "Did you tell them everything?" he asked Jake.

"You just need to give them their patrol schedule." he said.

"Ok. Brady, you'll be on Jake's shift and Colin will be on mine. Both of you will patrol around the house here, protecting the girls. I don't want you to be out with us because you're so young."

"But Seth is out there." Brady said.

"Seth is almost two years older than you guys. He's also been a werewolf longer. And he's on the inside boundaries so that there is less chances that she will get near him. End of discussion." Sam sounded stern when he said it. "Both of you will start tomorrow. I assume Jacob already told you about the situation with Victoria?" he looked to Jake, who nodded. "Good. Now go home and get some rest. Be here at seven a.m. tomorrow, Brady. I already told your mom about everything."

They left and Sam went on patrol. Jake hung out for a little bit before crashing upstairs for the night. The girls and I went to bed a little bit after him. We watched a movie that Kim had picked up with Jared. I called Quil to see if he could run me home in the morning to get a few more clothes. He said that he would come over to pick me up right after he got off and we would go after Charlie was at work. He also said that we were going to go to his house; his parents wanted to see me again.


	21. Chapter 21

Quil picked me up from Emily's house after his patrol. We drove to my house so that I could get some more clothes. It was Saturday and Charlie was off. Great. He'll be home when we get there. Fabulous. He'll probably make the three of us feel really awkward.

The cruiser was in the driveway when we got there. Charlie was on the couch, focused on the Mariners game that was on.

"Bella?" he called from the living room while walking into the hallway. "I wasn't expecting you to be here. Is Emily doing ok after her surgery?"

"Yeah," I lied. "She's doing great. I just came to get a few clothes. How are you surviving without me here?"

"Just fine, Bella. I did it for seventeen years before you came. You don't need to worry about me. Hi, Quil." he added at the end.

"Hi, Charlie."

"I'll be back. I'll only be a few minutes." I told Quil, starting to climb the stairs. I pulled out a small bag from my closet and filled it with some more clothes for the next couple of days. Or weeks. I hoped that it wouldn't be for the next couple of months.

I heard shouting coming from downstairs and I rolled my eyes. Boys and their sports. Well, at least Charlie wasn't making Quil or himself awkward by giving Quil embarrassing speeches or anything. I ran downstairs and saw them on the edge of the couch with excited looks on their faces. I looked on the screen. One of the Mariners had hit what looked like it was going to be a homerun, but it was caught just before it could be. Charlie and Quil both groaned and sat back on the couch.

"Ready, Quil?"

"Yeah."

We left, heading for Quil's house. His mother was allowing me to stay there for a few days so that I could get out of Emily's house. Not that I didn't want to be there. I was just sick of looking at the same walls all the time. Quil and the other guys- mainly Embry, Sam and Jared- wanted us to get out of the house as much as possible. But with Victoria still on the loose and the possibility of Edward being with her, it was much more difficult to get out. The guys were sacrificing their sleep to spend time with us.

Though it was only my second time meeting Quil's parents, they greeted me just the same as the first time, warm and welcoming as if I were already part of the family. Quil led me to his room, where I would be sleeping for the night. Quil had patrol and wouldn't be home until sometime in the early afternoon, around lunchtime.

Quil left shortly after dinner and his father went to bed having to get up for work early. I helped Kelly clean up after dinner and told Quil goodbye as he was walking out the door.

"Be careful." I whispered to him. "I love you."

"Love you." he turned and went into the woods to phase and begin his shift.

"You really love him, don't you?" Kelly said. We were watching something on TV. I'm not really sure what it was. I was thinking about the wolves being out hunting Victoria and whoever else could have been out there.

"Yeah, I do." I answered. "More than anything."

"Are you worried about him?"

"Yes," I admitted. "All the time. I don't want him or anyone else to get hurt because of this."

"You have to trust them. They aren't doing anything that they shouldn't be doing. They exist for this kind of stuff."

"They are so young though."

"Yes, some of them are. Most of them are younger than you, but they killed that one guy."

"But Victoria is so much different from Laurent. She's smart and quick. Plus, if Edward is on her side, that gives her more advantages. He can read minds. He knows exactly how Alice's visions work. He makes her ten times stronger just mentally. Physically, he could help out so much. Who knows if he went back to a human blood diet."

"Yes, but these things don't mean that she's not going to be killed soon. It will just take longer than we want."

"It already has been longer than I want. How much longer do you think it will be?"

"I don't know. I don't think it will be that much longer though. They've almost had her a couple of times. If Edward is on her side, are they going to kill him too?"

"Carlisle said that he would be dealt with appropriately. They don't want to loose a son, but they will do whatever needs to be done. Sam and the rest of the wolves think that he should be killed with Victoria for helping her."

"What do you think should happen to him?"

"I don't know. He's put me through so much pain, but I don't know that I could handle his death. Maybe that's just because he was my first love. I don't know. The Cullens are leaving as soon as everything is done though so I guess it wouldn't matter. But that will be just one more person to get killed because of me."

She gave me a small smile. "Well, Bella, I'm sure that everything will work out for the best in the end. Just have a little faith in the pack and the Cullens, too."

"Faith in the Cullens? Shouldn't you, I don't know, hate them?"

She laughed a little. "Yes, since they are the natural enemy of the wolves, but if they are giving us their help, then I can't really hate them for that reason. They're giving us six more people to help get Victoria. If that's what they can offer, then I can't hate them."

"Can I ask a question?"

She nodded.

"Who is Quileute, you or Kyle?"

"Kyle is. I'm from the Makah tribe. That's also the tribe that Emily is from."

"Was Kyle ever a wolf?"

"No. The gene skipped his and his father's generation. Remember the legends? The gene is only triggered if vampires are around. The Cullens came when the treaty was signed and that was the last generation of wolves before now, when the Cullens are back and Victoria is near a lot."

"Oh. That makes sense now."

She looked at the clock and noticed how late is was. I was surprised that it was almost midnight.

"Bella, it was nice getting to spend the evening with you. I need to go to bed now, though. I'll have to get up to go to my other job tomorrow. You can stay up as late as you want, of course. I'll be leaving around eight and Kyle leaves around five. Quil said that he and Paul would be around the house if anything happens. Is there anything you need?"

"No, I think I'm good. Thanks, though."

"Of course. And feel free to come over anytime. You can help yourself to anything tomorrow, fridge, shower. Whatever you want. Goodnight."

"Thanks. Goodnight."

It wasn't too long after she went to bed that I also went. I went into the bathroom changing into some shorts and a t-shirt. I brushed my teeth and walked out into Quil's bedroom. I laid down on Quil's soft bed. The sheets smelled like the woods. They smelled like Quil. I pulled the blanket close to my face. I wasn't cold. I just wanted his scent to help me get to sleep, and it worked almost immediately.

I woke up around nine the next morning. I grabbed a bowl of cereal, chewing slowly as I watched TV too. After washing my bowl and spoon, I grabbed my toiletry bag and went to get a shower.

I reached out for the shampoo and noticed that it was men's. I looked around and didn't see anything feminine. Quil's parents must have their own bathroom, I thought to myself. I shrugged and grabbed the shampoo. I guess I will just have to use Quil's shampoo and body wash for a few days. I dried off and wrapped a fluffy blue towel around my body. I walked into Quil's room and got dressed in the first thing picked out, not really caring what it was.

I didn't really know what to do. There was no one in the house and I didn't really feel like watching TV. I still had about an hour until Quil got home. I grabbed my beat up copy of _Wuthering Heights _and read it on the couch.

Quil cam home at noon. He noticed the book that I was reading and gave me a funny look. "How many times have you read that book?"

"More than enough. But it's my favorite. Hungry?"

"What kind of question is that?" he asked, jokingly. "Of course I'm hungry. Are you?"

"Yeah."

We walked into the kitchen to make sandwiches for ourselves. Quil's was, of course, about three times bigger than my own. However, he ate his in about half the time that I ate mine.

"Anything interesting happen today?"

'We got a fresh track, today. It was Victoria, but it just kind of stopped. So we didn't know where to go from there. We think that she will come in the next week or so. She seems to be coming by sooner and sooner."

"Is that a good thing?"

"Yes. That means that we'll get her and her friend soon. We still aren't exactly sure of who that it. But we haven't seen or gotten a track from Riley in a while, so we don't know about him."

"I hope you get her soon so that we can get back to our somewhat normal lives." I said leaning my head on his shoulder.

"Me too, Bella. We all hope that."


	22. Chapter 22

**Quil POV**

Bella leaned her head on my shoulder. "Me too, Bella. We all hope that." I caught a wiff of her hair. It smelled like my shampoo. "Did you get a shower today?"

"Yes. Why?"

"You smell like me." I said. A grin on my face appeared as her face turned pink.

"I had to use your shampoo and body wash. It was the only thing I could find."

I chuckled a little. "You smell good."

"I would hope that you say that. Considering it is _your _shampoo and body wash."

* * *

A week passed and not much had happened. Patrols were the same, still. Victoria was no where in sight. Bella went back to Emily's house yesterday. She enjoyed the week at my house. She got out of Emily's house for a few days and she was glad to see some new scenery.

The patrol schedule was on it's overlap, so all of us were patroling. Jared and I were on the west side of La Push.

_Hey, guys. And Leah, too, I guess. Guess what. _Jared said.

_What?_ we all asked at the same time.

_It's Friday, Friday. Gotta get down on Friday. _he started singing.

_Oh my gosh. I hate that song! _Embry said.

_You're the inspiration for my headache. _Leah said.

_Shut up, Jared. _Seth.

And yet, he continued. _Partyin', partyin', yeah! __Partyin', partyin', yeah!_

_Ugh. Shut the hell up! _Leah yelled at him.

Sam phased into his wolf form then. He had been talking to Carlisle. _Hey. He said to kill him if he wants to mean any harm on Bella at all. You all seem angry except Jared. _he stated. _Why? _we thought about the past few minutes with Jared singing. _Oh. Jared, focus! We can't be so distracted._

_Sorry, Sam._

_Jake's group is done for the day. You guys can go. Get some sleep._

_Finally. I can get out of your dumb ass head. _Leah said. The group phased back and it was just Sam, Paul, Embry, Colin, and I.

I was still patroling the west side of La Push; Sam on the north; Paul on the south and Embry on the east. Colin was on the inside border, keeping near Emily's house with the girls so that it was less likely that he would have to fight if Victoria came back. Since Colin and Brady were so young- both in werewolf age and physical age- we didn't want them to be anywhere near Victoria. That was for us older wolves who knew what we were dealing with.

Through someone's eyes- I'm not really sure who's- I saw a flash of red, then another flash of bronze. _Sam. _Paul said.

_I see. Where are you?_

_South. About two and a half miles from Quil's house._

_On the way. Let's go guys. Colin, stay where you are. Alert the others, Embry._

Embry let out a frantic howl, alerting the others that they needed to come out immediatly. I felt them all phase. They were all asking various questions about where and what to do.

_Would you all just shut up for a minute and let me give out the orders! _Sam yelled. _Brady, you know where to go. Everyone else, it's about two and a half miles south from Quil's house. You guys know the drill. Paul, Quil, Jake and Jared have Victoria. The rest of us will get her friend. I figured Quil, Paul and Jake could have the glory of ripping her to shreds. And Jared just because._

Jared smiled at the thought of getting to kill her. We all met Paul where he was at. _Don't forget. If it is Edward, he can read your thoughts and anticipate your every move. Block your thoughts, but keep focused._

We saw a flash of bronze again and that group went in that direction. Red went by and I led my group that way. We ran for about a mile before she stopped and turned to us. A growl escaped from her lips. Paul started advancing forward on her, but I stopped him.

_What the hell, Quil? She's right there!_

_Just wait. Wait to see if she does or says anything first._

As if on cue, she starting speaking. She laughed a bit first. "You silly, silly wolves. Trying to protect your precious Bella." she started pacing. "How many times have you tried to catch me? And how many times have you failed? Hm. Every single time. You see, I have a special talent for escaping. Something I picked up from my human years.

"Edward has joined me if you didn't notice already." she said casually. "He has been a great person to work with. With his mind reading and knowing exactly how Alice's visions work, he has made things so much easier. And his speed! I have never seen a vampire as fast as him. I got rid of Riley shortly after Edward came to me.

"I thought catching Bella would be so easy. That proved difficult with you mutts running around trying to protect her. Edward has made everything so much easier." A smile formed on her lips.

Things happened quickly. She attacked first. We lunged at her and she got out of the way. She was very fast. Jake had been just inches away from her when she fled us a tree. He jumped, landing on Jared. He made a loud yelp and I saw that Victoria had bitten him. Paul sprang and caught Victoria off guard by knocking her out of the way. He lay on the ground for a few minutes while us Jake, Paul and I continued to fight with Victoria. The vampire venom wasn't deadly unless there was too much or there were also other, more serious injuries with it.

He was just fine after a few minutes and went right back into fighting. It was almost a dance, really. She moved and we moved with her. This continued for a few minutes.

"You're not going to give up, are you?" she asked.

The fight kept continuing. I couldn't remember any specific details because I was too concentrated on I was trying to do. We were having a hard time with her and I wandered why she didn't just flee like she normally did. I didn't have much time to think about it though, because I needed to focus on what was going on.

We heard a howl from a few miles away. We looked to where the sound was coming from and saw a purple cloud of smoke. Edward was dead. That was a relief. There was one problem taken care of.

"Damn." she muttered under her breath. She seemed to be distracted abd we took advantage at once. Jake and Jared were behind her and slowly started walking towards her. She seemed too distracted to notice anything else except what was happening in the distance. Jake and Jared lunged at the same time towards her. She turned, but it was too late. She was already on the ground, both legs gone. Paul pulled the arms off. They started to put the pieces in a pile for the fire. I jumped, grabbing hold of her head with my mouth.

Jake and I seemed to play tug-of-war for a while. I had the head and he had her torso. The head finally pulled apart from the head. We put the parts in the pile. Paul and Jared had already phased and had a lighter ready for the fire while I let out a howl. After setting the fire, they phased back.

Sam's group were all in their wolf forms. _She dead? _Sam asked.

_Yes. It was a team effort. How'd yours go? _I said.

_Fine. Easier than we thought considering he could read minds. He kept watching your fight and that seemed to distract him a little. Any injuries? How are you, Jared?_

_I feel just fine. _he answered. _Just a small scar._

_That's good. Now let's get to the house. I'm sure the girls want to know what went on._

_Yeah. _Colin inturrupted. _They're freaking out. They have no idea what's going on. Make it quick._

We broke out into a sprint to get back to the house. We slowed asbe there, phasing abck and pulling shorts on as we ran towards the house. The girls were sitting at the table. They all looked worried and stressed. They looked up and ran into our arms. Bella came to me and I embraced her in my arms.

"There was howling. It sounded like someone was hurt at one point. What happened? Did Victoria come back? Edward? Quil, what happened out there?" she kept shooting questions at me and I had to put a finger to her mouth to stop her.

The girls looked at me for an explination. I looked to Sam thinking he would want to take this one over, but he just gave me a small nod.

"The first howl was Embry. He was alerting the others that Victoria was in the area. Paul saw her first. The second one was Jared. Victoria leaped on his back and bit him."

"What?" Kim yelled. "Where?"

"Right here." Jared said, pointing to the pink scar on his side. "It's no big deal. It's already healed. Just a little scar."

"And the other two?" Angela asked.

"Those were just us telling eachother that they were dead." I clarified.

"Who was the other person?" Bella asked. "Was it Edward?"

"Yes. It was him. He's dead too. And Victoria got rid of Riley when Edward joined her, so you don't have to worry about him."

"Do the rest of the Cullens know?"

"No. We haven't talked to them yet." I admitted. "Carlisle told Sam that we need to kill him if he wanted to cause you any harm. He wanted to take you. He was going to possibly kill you. We don't really know. But he's dead. We were going to tell the Cullens as soon as we came here first. There is nothing to worry about anymore."

After a few more questions from the girls, Sam, Jared, Paul, Jake and I left to meet the Cullens at the treaty line. Carlsile and Esme were there. "You have news." Carlisle said.

Sam spoke up. "The problem has been taken care of. Victoria is dead. Edward was working with her. He said that he was going to take Bella away and who knows what he would've done with her. So we had no choice but to kill him."

"I understand. It's sad to hear that we have lost a son, but you had to do it. Thank you for helping with the situation. We are terrbily sorry that this all happened. My family and I will pack up and leave immediatly if Bella still wishes."

"Yes," I said. "She still wishes for that to happen."

"Very well. Goodbye."

They left and we went back to the house. Bella, Kim and Angela were packing their bags to go back to their own homes. I could tell that they were all happy for this to be over with and they were all safe again.

**A/N: Urg! I had this whole chapter planned out! I was going to have Victoria elaborate more on her story. I was basically going to summarize it from the Illustrated Guide. It was practically done, then my computer froze and I had to restart it without saving the document! Gr. And I wasn't going to type the entire thing again. So sorry about that!**

**Hoped you liked the chapter. I've been wanting to write this for a while now. Not very many chapters left. Two more at least. Maybe three or four?**** R&R :)**


	23. Chapter 23

**Embry POV**

Most of the car ride with Angela was silent. I don't think she was fully understanding of us yet, but she was better than she was when she found out about all this just a few weeks ago.

"Embry, can I talk to you about something?"

I turned my face to her. "Yeah. What is it?"

She hesitated for a minute, looking at her hands. "I've been thinking about this a lot. Taken it into consideration. And, while I may not be completely," she paused, looking for the right word. "comfortable with the whole wolf and vampire thing, I've realized that it's part of my life now. That you're part of my life. You're part of my life in so many ways now. Over the past few weeks, I've seen you be a friend, a brother and a protector. Not just to me, but to the the pack and the other imprintees as well.

"And, over the past couple weeks, I've been thrown into the supernatural world. I was unsure and I'll admit that I was kind of scared at first. I was always asking Bella about everything. I started having odd dreams about the pack and the Cullens. I asked if we could just friends in the beginnig because I didn't want to be with you because I felt I had to be because of what imprinting is. I expected that I would want us to be in that stage much longer.

"I've realized that I don't want that anymore. I want to be with you. I want you to be my lover, my boyfriend. I've realized that I have no reason to fear the wolf pack anymore. There is nothing that the pack won't do to protect us. I was unsure at first, but now I'm not. I've seen you go out and risk your life for us. For all of us. I have absolute and total respect for that.

"I'm still trying to wrap my head around everything, and I know that you will be patient with me. I don't want to just be friends anymore, Embry."

I looked at her, stunned. I didn't think that it would only take a few weeks for her to want this. I was prepared to wait a few months. A year or two maybe.

"Is that what you really want? Are you sure?" I couldn't think of anything else to say.

"Yes, I am completely sure."

"Ok. Yes. You can have me as your boyfriend."

She smiled just a little. "Thank you. For everything you've done so far, Embry."

"No problem."

I pulled into her driveway, gave her a goodbye and made sure she was in her house before I drove back home.

My Mom didn't know that I was a werewolf. This made things difficult. I didn't know who my father is, but I knew the candidates were; they were obvious. Mom knew, but she wouldn't tell me. She said that it wasn't important, that we were just fine without a man in the house. With Mom not knowing I was a wolf, I made up lie after lie why I wasn't home during the day and sometimes the night. She was always worried that I was getting into trouble. It took her a lot of convincing that I wasn't doing anything that I shouldn't be. Billy had to talk to her about it too. She still isn't completely convinced. With the whole Victoria situation over with, I would be home more and hopefully she would calm down some.

**Quil POV**

I was taking Bella home. She was happy to get to sleep in her own bed tonight. She was even more happy that the Victoria and Edward problem was taken care of. She had wanted me to tell her about the fight and I told her what I could. I could only remember so much since I was too concentrated on just killing her. I didn't get to describe much of the fight with Edward, simply because I was not there.

"So are the Cullens leaving now?" she asked.

"Yeah. Carlisle and Esme were there when we went. He said that they would pack up and leave immediatly."

"Good." she mumbled. "And Jared is ok?"

"Yes. There wasn't enough venom to harm him. He was back up in just a few minutes."

"But if there had been enough venom..." her voice trailed off. I knew exactly what she was going to say.

"Yes, if there was enough."

She sighed. "That's what I'm so worried about. Why I didn't want you guys to be out there. I knew the dangers that could come."

"Yeah. But we have nothing to fear now. You can sleep in your own bed. I can sleep. We can go out without having to worry about anything else. Speaking of, are you up for dinner on Wednesday? I mean, since everything is done and over with, I think you and I need to get out alone."

"Yeah. That sounds nice." she said, taking my hand in hers.

We arrived at her house just a few minutes later. I walked in with her. Charlie was rummaging through the fridge, pulling out a box of cold pizza for dinner.

"Hey kiddo." Bella set her bag on one of the chairs. "Are you staying home now?"

"Yeah. Emily is better. And Sam's schedule is less packed now so he is home more."

"That's good. I'm glad she is better. Do you kids want dinner?"

"I already ate, Dad. Do you want dinner, Quil?"

"No thanks," I said. "I need to be getting home."

Bella walked me out to my car. We kissed, long and full of passion. It was an overdue kiss. I left and went home.

My parents were both relieved when I told them that Victoria and Edward were dead. They were happy that Bella was safe from her and that the pack could finally get some rest from everything and be home. I know Embry's mom was getting pretty pissed about him never being home, but she only thought he was staying at someone's house. His mom didn't know about him being a wolf, which made things difficult with him.

* * *

A few days passed. Sam re-did the schedule and we were able to have more time off. That meant more sleep, more free time, and more time with Bella.

Wednesday came and I was out on my patrols with Paul. We swept the border a few times until Leah and Colin took over. I ran home to get a shower. I told Mom that I would be home later and left to pick Bella up.

We drove all the way to Port Angeles for dinner and then we were going to go to the beach for a bon fire. In the car and during dinner, we talked about just about everything except what happened on Friday. The thrill had died down and we were having a bonfire tonight to celebrate Victoria's death. Edward's too, though we didn't mention it around Bella.

After dinner, we drove to the beach. Everyone was already there and we easily went in to conversations with everyone there. Angela and Embry came holding hands and looking happy as ever. Bella and I gave them confused looks. As far as we knew, they were just friends because Angela didn't want to rush into anything. Maybe that cahnged.

"Are you two-?" Bella started to ask, but Angela interrupted her.

"Yes. If you are going to ask if we are dating, then the answer is yes."

"That's great, Ang. Since when?"

"Friday when he was taking me home. I had been thinking about it a lot."

The rest of the night was spent talking amongst the crowd of people. It was only the pack and the others who were in on the secret of the woles- the counsel, some of the parents and the imprintees. The pack was asked frequently about the fight with Edward and Victoria. We would answer them as best we could without using too much detail. Colin and Brady's parents were just thankful that they didn't help in the process of killing any vampires.

I was sitting on a log bench, Bella at my feet. I was talking to Sam about nothing in particular. I glanced at the time on my cell phone and saw that it was nearing 12:30 in the morning. I asked Bella if she was ready to get home. When she didn't respond, I looked down to her face to see that she was already asleep. I gave a small laugh and kissed the top of her head. Easily, I picked her up in my arms walking towards the car. I fastened her in. She didn't even flinch at any movement. I drove her home. Charlie was still up and he held the door open while I carried Bella upstairs to her room. I pulled her shoes off and pulled the covers over her. I kissed the top of her head again and said, "I love you, Bella." Then I old Charlie goodbye and went home.


	24. Chapter 24

**Bella POV- 6 years later**

Six years have passed since the wolves killed Edward and Victoria. A lot has changed since then. The Cullens left immediately after and I have not heard from them since.

Emily and Sam finally got married about a year later. Five years passed and they love each other more now than they did on their wedding day. Emily announced she was pregnant a few years later and now they have a four year old son, Logan, who looks just like Sam.

Kim and Jared got engaged a few months ago. Embry and Angela are still together, taking things a bit slower than the rest of us. It was what Angela wanted and Embry was more than happy and willing to do whatever she wanted.

I went to college at the University of Washington, majoring in English. I got a job at a book editing company in Seattle and I loved my job. Quil is still in college, also attending the University of Washington. He's majoring in Industrial Engineering.

Quil and I were stronger than ever. We grew closer after Edward and Victoria died because we didn't have anymore vampire drama between us. Jacob also seemed to get over Quil imprinting, and that helped things, too.

We were married just a year and a half ago in a beautiful ceremony held in the backyard of Quil's parent's house. We moved into a small, two bedroom house just down the road from Sam and Emily.

And now, after sixteen hours of labor, I was sitting in a hospital bed holding our daughter, Kennadi Renee Ateara.

There is no doubt that Kennadi is Quil's daughter. She has the same russet skin and dark, curly hair; she also has his eyes, though her lips and nose are mine.

I passed her sleeping form to quil, who was sitting beside me in the bed. He took her in his arms, and though she was only hours old, I could already see that he was a great daddy.

There was a light knock on the door before Emily walked in with Sam and Logan following in quietly.

"Hey," she said. "Congratulations." she gave me a light hug. She looked at Kennadi. "She looks just like both of you."

"I know. I think she will look more like Quil when she's older, though." I said.

"If she's like my kid, she will look just like her father."

"Do you want to hold her?" Quil asked.

Emily took Kennadi for a few minutes. Sam took her after Emily took logan to the bathroom.

"Have you and Emily thought about having more kids?" Quil asked him.

"Yeah, we've talked about it. We want more, we're just not sure when. We will have more, though."

Emily and Logan walked back in the room. They stayed for a few more minutes before they left.

The flood of visitors came and went for the rest of the day. Jared and Kim came next, then Angela and Embry followed by Jacob, Billy, and my dad. Renee was going to fly to La Push next week to visit and see the baby. It would be once to get to see her again; I haven't see her and Phil since the wedding. Renee was looking forward to meeting her first grandchild, and phil was glad too.

Telling Renée about the wedding was easier than I thought it would be. I thought that she would give me a long lecture about how I should wait until I was older to get married. I thought that I would have to tell her how sure I was about marrying Quil and telling her that there was nobody in the world that would love me like he does, which is one hundred percent true. Completely the oppisite, Renée was very happy about the announcement.

When I told her that I was pregnant, she was even more happy than about the wedding. I started receiving packages, large and small, to the house. Clothes, toys, blankets and so much more. She wasn't able to make it down here for the shower, but when I came home just a few days later, Quil said that there was a large package in the living room. I opened the box and saw that she sent the rocking chair that I put on the registry. Of course, I wasn't surprised.

The next morning came and we were preparing to go home. Quil loaded all of the small gifts and It's A Girl balloons into my car; my truck suffered a very painful death just before our wedding and we purchased a new car as a wedding gift to each other. He put Kennadi in her car seat and we drove home.

"Do you have class tonight?" I asked Quil.

"Yeah. I was going to skip tonight, though. Stay home with you and Kennadi. That way you don't have to get up with her every single time during the night."

"Thanks." I said in a quiet tone.

Kennadi was asleep when we got home. I guess the welcome home would have to happen later, when she was awake.

Quil made dinner while I fed Kennadi. We ate in the living room tonight, watching Kennadi in her swing that my dad had purchased for us.

"She's so peaceful." I said.

"I wouldn't say that. We might be up all night with her. And she's only a day and a half old."

"True, I guess. Quil, I have a serious question."

"What is it?"

"When she's older, what are the chances of her becoming a wolf?"

He sighed. "I honestly don't know. I've talked to Sam about it a little bit. Of course, it just depends if there are any vampires around at the time. But with her, I don't know. Leah is the only female wolf in history. At least in or history. I don't know if there is potential for another female wolf. Sam thinks that the chances of Logan phasing are more likely, just because he's a boy. But now we know that girls can phase, at least there is a possibility. We'll just have to wait and see. Hopefully there won't be any vampires around then. What brought that up?"

"I don't know. I just thought of it one night when I was up."

"We don't have to worry about it right now. So let's get some sleep while we can."

We put Kennadi in her crib and went to get ready for bed ourselves. It felt nice to get a real shower in my own house. Quil and I went to bed and she woke up a couple hours later.

I got up to fed her and I knew this would only be the start of a few weeks of only a few hours of sleep each night. I was thankful that Quil stayed home from his class tonight since he woke up with her a couple of times.

It was 7:30 last time I woke up. On my own this time. I could smell fresh coffee being made in the kitchen and I gladly took a cup. I heard small snores coming from the living room and I peaked my head in, seeing Quil asleep on the couch with Kennadi tucked in his arm. I smiled at the sight and took a picture on my phone.

Already, Quil loved her more than any other child in the world and I could say the same for myself. My life had been a rollercoaster over the past few years between vampires and werewolves and so many near-death experiences that I couldn't even count them anymore. And then things had settled down a little. Now my husband and I welcomed a child and I knew that things weren't always going to go smoothly and easy. And if she did become a werewolf in the future, then that was just something that we would have to deal with when the time came, if it ever came. Hopefully it wouldn't. I wouldn't mind if she were a wolf; I'd grown used to it and it was part of who she is. But with werewolves means vampires that trigger the gene and I hoped that we wouldn't have anymore hanging around.

I gave them both a kiss on the top of their heads. "I love you both." I whispered and I fell back asleep on the couch with them.

**A/N: That's it! That was the final chapter. Sad to see it end, but happy at the same time that I can focus on new stories coming up. With school starting up in a couple of weeks, I don't know when the next story will be started and posted.**

**Hoped you liked reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it and reading all of your wonderful reviews. Thank you to my oh-so-faithful reviewers who helped to shape this story and gave good constructive criticism for the story. Love you all!**


	25. Chapter 25

I came up with an idea and I want to test this idea out. I have made a Facebook page for my Fanfiction stories. If you are on Facebook, you are welcome to "Like" the page. Pictures for the stories are posted in albums according to story and chapter (Ex. Forever and After: Chapter 1). You'll also be able to see any updates and announcements on there. I'm still trying to get it completely set up, but you're all welcome to "Like" it. Comments, posts, etc. are welcome. I only ask that they are relevant to Fanfiction.


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